Climate change is a driver of violence, socioeconomic disruption, and displacement, intersecting with conflict and injustice dynamics. The American Friends Service Committee implemented the Dialogue Exchange Program to explore local civil society needs and lay the groundwork for the organization and provide support in the future for affected communities by building resilience and promoting sustainability. The overall objective of this initiative was to strengthen an intersectional movement for sustainable peace, economic justice, and climate justice for host and refugee communities in the region by bringing together actors concerned about the consequences of climate change and seeking to include it in the forefront of civil society and government priorities in the Arab Region.

Activities

Ecocentra was commissioned by the American Friends Service Committee to prepare a comprehensive review of climate justice issues in the Arab region with a focus on eight selected countries: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, and Tunisia. The team mapped the key stakeholders and conducted one-on-one meetings with key experts from the selected countries to support the analysis and provide concrete feedback on climate justice priorities, major blockers to climate justice, and the recommendations needed to alleviate the gap between civil society organizations and governments on climate justice. Both the literature review and key expert interviews supported implementation of the Dialogue and Exchange Program entitled “Bridging gap between civil societies and governments”, which was facilitated by Ecocentra over 3 days in Amman, Jordan. The workshop aimed at exploring local civil society needs and lay the groundwork for AFSC Middle East to provide future support for affected communities and to advance just and sustainable peace, economies and responses to displacement.