SESRIC participated in International Drought and Desertification Symposium which was jointly organised by the Ministry of Forestry and Water Affairs of Republic of Turkey and Turkish International Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) in Konya, Turkey on 16 September–20 September 2014.

The objective of the symposium was to exchange knowledge and experience on combating desertification, to promote effective cooperation among the relevant institutions and NGOs, and to support and strengthen the implementation of the Convention through providing useful input from regional achievements/findings on the efforts of combating desertification and sustainable management of land resources.

The symposium was attended by relavant decision makers, forest engineers and NGOs involved in the management of environmental issues related to desertification, afforestation, erosion control and forestry from 30 different countries including of 17 OIC Member Countries, namely Algeria, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Djibouti, Guinea, Kenya, Morocco, Mozambique, Niger, Senegal, Tanzania, Chad, Tunus, Uganda, Lebanon, Iran, and Saudi Arabia. Mr. Mazhar Hussain, Senior Researcher at SESRIC, made a presentation on “Desertification and Water Scarcity in OIC Member Countries” during symposium.