WANA countries call for continued collaboration to tackle common economic, social and environmental challenges

The need for clean water, affordable and safe food and housing and freedom of speech are among the main challenges facing these countries.

The WANA Forum is a new initiative that brings together people of all backgrounds from across the region to address such concerns and promote regional cooperation.

Around 50 high-ranking figures from WANA countries and 10 partners from outside the region participated in the forum.

In his address at Sunday’s opening ceremony, HRH Prince Hassan, chairperson of the forum, highlighted the need for greater regional cooperation.

He said WANA states need to work together to define common challenges and devise viable and sustainable solutions.

To achieve this goal, these countries need to form a comprehensive perspective of peace and adopt new policies that focus on human dignity and work to eliminate the “confidence gap”, the Prince added.

Noting the importance of countries in West Asia and North Africa, Prince Hassan said the region needs to act as a link among other world regions in terms of economic, social and environmental efforts.

Prince Hassan also called for establishing new Asian facts on the ground, such as an Asian monetary fund, and for action to develop human security and eliminate conflict and destruction.

At the two-day forum, supported by the Nippon Foundation, decision makers and civil society representatives from across the region worked to define and prioritise common challenges and concerns as well as means to address them.

One of the key speakers at the forum, former Finnish president Martti Ahtisaari, said governments need to cooperate with civil society activists to establish change, and not marginalise them or view them as a threat.

Describing the initiative as a platform to address the region’s concerns, Nippon Foundation Chairman Yohei Sasakawa said he worked with Prince Hassan to develop the idea of the forum.

The forum was initiated in response to the need for non-threatening and constructive dialogue in the region, where people have been deprived of effective solutions to a wide range of issues, according to the WANA website.

The environmental track adopted four panels which will lead the research in the next five years in the WANA region: