The Society for the Protection of Nature in Lebanon (SPNL) “Al-Hima System: a Mean of Women Empowerment” solution has been selected to reflect the UNW FGE Portfolio as a modality for South-South cooperation, in the First Arab States regional South-South Development EXPO to be held in Doha-Qatar from 18 to 20 February 2014.
SPNL is implementing project titled “Promoting Hima Women Empowerment for Conservation and Livelihood” and funded by UN Women Fund for Gender Equality. The project aims to improve women livelihood through acquired skills and better income opportunities in five Hima Sites including Hima Anjar, Hima Kafar- Zabad, Hima El- Fekha, and Himas of Qoleileh Mansouri.
SPNL the Birdlife national partner is now reviving the Hima approach in the Arab region. The goal is to integrate wise traditional practices with recent conservation science in order to achieve sustainable development. Thereby, respecting the rights of local communities and promoting equity and responsibility for the environment; the revival of the Hima approach, represents BirdLife’s new Local Empowerment Programme.
The South-South Development Expo is a United Nations system-wide high-profile event for South-South cooperation that strategically and systematically showcases development solutions originating from Southern countries and aimed at replication and scaling up in other parts of the world. It is an integral part of the three-in-one multilateral support architecture of the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation through which Southern development solutions are produced, marketed and transferred to contribute to the achievement of internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals.
This first Arab States Regional South-South Development Expo, to be held in Doha, Qatar, in 2014, is a result of the success of the annual (since 2008) Global South-South Development Expo model and a direct response to the requests of Member States and institutional partners to bring Southern solutions closer to the regional contexts and deepen the impact of South-South development cooperation through scaling up and replication.
The main objective of the Expo is to serve as a platform for matching capacities of the solution providers with the needs of the solution seekers, which will potentially lead to practical exchanges of South-South solutions and experiences in the region.
The exhibition will feature solution exchange forums led by a number of United Nations specialized agencies, funds and programmes, including ESCWA, FAO, IFAD, ILO, UNDP, UNEP, UNIDO and UN-Women.
Three broad themes will be tackled, and these are youth and women’s employment, energy efficiency and renewable energy, in addition to water and food security.
The Expo will bring together high-level representatives from various multilateral and bilateral institutions and the development cooperation offices and agencies of the Arab States as well as those countries outside the Arab States region.
With active leadership from the State of Qatar as the host for the Expo and the full engagement of the entire United Nations system as well as proactive commitment from other development actors from government, civil society, private-sector stakeholders and the international development community, we are confident that the Expo in Doha will go beyond showcasing successful solutions in the Arab States and other developing regions to serve as a powerful platform to form inclusive partnerships to scale up the development impact of those solutions towards achieving the unmet Millennium Development Goals and sustainable development beyond 2015.
