CEDARE 19th Meeting of the Board of Trustees, chaired by H.E. Eng. Abdulrahman bin Abdulmohsen Al-Fadhli, Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Chairman of the Board of Trustees, with the participation of H.E. Dr. Manal Awad, Minister of Local Development and Acting Minister of Environment of the Arab Republic of Egypt and Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees, and with high-level attendance from representatives of member states and Arab and regional organizations.
In his opening remarks, H.E. Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli emphasized that the institutional development currently underway at CEDARE constitutes a fundamental pillar for enhancing the Centre’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and enabling it to address current and future environmental and developmental challenges. He reaffirmed the Board of Trustees’ full support for the modernization and institutional reform process, and commended the efforts exerted by H.E. Dr. Khaled Fahmy, Executive Director of CEDARE and former Minister of Environment of the Arab Republic of Egypt, in leading the institutional development process.
H.E. Dr. Manal Awad expressed her pleasure at participating for the first time in a meeting of CEDARE’s Board of Trustees in her capacity as Vice Chair, noting that the profound transformations taking place across the region impose new qualitative responsibilities on the Centre in addressing accelerating environmental and developmental challenges. She also praised the distinguished efforts of Dr. Yasmine Fouad, former Minister of Environment of the Arab Republic of Egypt, in supporting the Centre’s journey through constructive cooperation with H.E. Eng. Abdulrahman Al-Fadhli in the management of CEDARE’s affairs.
For his part, Dr. Khaled Fahmy, Executive Director of CEDARE, presented an overview of the comprehensive institutional development process the Centre is undergoing, explaining that the meeting comes within the framework of an important and comprehensive phase of institutional transformation aimed at achieving clear outputs by the end of 2025, foremost among which are the review and update of the Statute, the strengthening of the Centre’s legal and governance framework, and the preparation of the Strategic Plan, Work Plan, and Internal Regulations.
The meeting also discussed a number of key agenda items, including the endorsement of the decisions and report of the previous Board of Trustees meeting, the approval of the proposed amendments to the Statute related to the Board of Trustees, the review of members’ proposals, and the identification of the next implementation steps.
At the conclusion of the meeting, the Board of Trustees approved moving forward with the implementation of the adopted amendments and the completion of the procedures and plans for institutional development, thereby strengthening CEDARE’s position and regional role in supporting sustainable development and regional cooperation.
