The United Nations Country Team in Saudi Arabia held its annual retreat in October, bringing together representatives from all UN agencies in the Kingdom along with key national counterparts. This year’s retreat was especially notable for its close engagement with government partners, reinforcing the alignment between the UN’s work and the Kingdom’s Vision 2030.

The retreat opened with the participation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) and the Ministry of Economy and Planning (MEP). These strategic discussions laid the foundation for reviewing Saudi Arabia’s progress on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and reaffirmed the importance of the UNCT’s alignment with national development priorities.

Over the four days, UNCT Agencies along with our Government counterparts engaged in a dynamic mix of panel discussions, fireside chats, technical presentations, Q&A sessions, and breakout groups covering key thematic areas linked to the mandates of UN agencies in the Kingdom.

For UNDP, we were fully engaged in the sessions and working groups, and the retreat also provided opportunity to share our expertise across several strategic sessions, including:

 

• Environment Panel:
  Dr. Thomas Pitaud, UNDP RBAS Regional Team Leader for Environment and Energy emphasized that environmental initiatives are core to development initiatives, and deliberations on drought resilience, are also deliberations on livelihoods resilience and economic growth.
   
• Water Panel:
  Eng. Arif Ali Alkalali, UNDP KSA Chief Technical Advisor for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), delivered opening remarks on Day 3 and highlighted Saudi Arabia’s advancements in water governance in partnership with MEWA, especially in achieving SDG 6 in an arid climate.
   
• Health Panel:
  Dr. Margaret Jones Williams, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative, emphasized the long-standing collaboration between UNDP and the Saudi Food and Drug Authority , and the strong joint programming across UN agencies in support of SDG 3.
   
• URBAN Development Panel
  Prof. Markus Apenzeller, UNDP KSA Chief Technical Advisor for our project with the Ministry of Municipalities and Housing spoke on the significant advances in urban development and the need to focus on both national level and local level engagement.
   
• Disability Inclusion Panel:
  Fatimah Alsofayyan, UNDP Programme Officer, UN Volunteer and Disability Inclusion Advisor to the UNCT  was a member of a powerful panel on disability inclusion, who shared her personal journey and reaffirmed our commitment to “Leave No One Behind.”

The retreat concluded with a forward-looking session led by the UN System Staff College which focused on capacity development to further strengthen the UN’s collective support to the Kingdom. UNDP remains fully committed as a member of the Saudi Arabia UN Country Team, to delivering excellence and relevance in line with Saudi Arabia’s development ambitions.