Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia | 28 August 2026 — H.E. Ambassador Berik Aryn, Director General of the Islamic Organisation for Food Security (IOFS), led the Organisation’s delegation that participated and demonstrated strong leadership at the 17th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD COP17), held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The delegation used the high-level COP17 platform to strengthen partnerships with governments, international organisations, development institutions and other stakeholders and to promote practical cooperation across the OIC geography.
A key highlight was the Director General’s participation as a speaker in the session “From Istanbul to Abu Dhabi: Water–Land–Climate Nexus for Resilience,” jointly organized by Türkiye and IOFS to examine how integrated approaches to water and land management can strengthen resilience and contribute to sustainable food security.
The Director General also contributed to the high-level panel “Restoration of Degraded Landscapes to Enhance Food Security in Arid Regions,” organized by the COP16 Presidency, represented by Dr. Osama Ibrahim Faqeeha, Deputy Minister for Environmental Affairs of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The discussion underscored the importance of regional cooperation in addressing cross-border dryland challenges and aligning landscape restoration with food-security priorities.
The active attendance of Director General at COP17 was also through bilateral meetings, including with H.E. Dr. Abdourahmane Diouf, Minister of Energy and Petroleum of the Republic of Senegal, with whom he discussed the strengthening of bilateral cooperation, and with Mr. Samed Ağırbaş, COP31 Climate High-Level Champion / President of Zero Waste Foundation, which was important in advancing the IOFS’s commitments with the Global Action Agenda and to reduce food waste and loss, while agreeing for potential joint activities in near future, as, for example, at COP31.
It is worth mentioning that the during his stay in Ulaanbaatar, the Director General was assisted Mr. Abdula Manafi Mutualo, Chief Multilateral Relations Officer, and Dr. Abdelaziz Hajjaji, Programme Manager, who represented the IOFS in different side-events, as was the case of the CICA–Türkiye panel, in which Dr. Hajjaji highlighted drought resilience, healthy rangelands and sustainable water management as key pillars of food security. Mr. Manafi, on his turn, featured as panelists in two side-events, one organized by Türkiye Pavilion on “Climate Impacts to Integrated Action: Rethinking Water and Land Management,” bringing the OIC perspective to discussions on integrated water–land governance and climate resilience, and another convened by the Global Flagship Initiative for Food Security “From COP16 to COP17: Advancing Food Security Through Strategic Partnerships and Co-Investment,” where he highlighted the importance of country-owned priorities, clearly defined partnerships, investment-ready projects and effective financing pathways to translate food-security commitments into measurable results.
Through its participation in COP17, the IOFS reaffirmed its commitment to using its OIC-wide institutional platform to connect the Member States with technical expertise, development finance and strategic partners, while promoting integrated solutions that strengthen food security, restore ecosystems and build resilience to climate and water-related pressures, strengthening the bridge from Ulaanbaatar to COP31 and ensuring that food security remains at the heart of the global climate, land and water agenda.
