The Royal Commission for AlUla Participates in IUCN’s Leaders Forum in South Korea

Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.
Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.
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The Royal Commission for AlUla Participates in IUCN’s Leaders Forum in South Korea

Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.
Among other things, the two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity.

The Royal Commission for AlUla is participating in the leaders forum for the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the South Korean island of Jeju.

The two-day IUCN Leaders Summit that kicked off on Thursday will discuss mechanisms for conserving biodiversity, restoring natural habitats, and discussing ways of cooperation among IUCN member states to exchange experiences and develop ways of cooperation that enable the achievement of goals and build capacity.

RCU will hold a panel discussion on the topic "Restoring the Past for the Future" as part of the meeting schedule.

There are many concerns related to nature, but sustainability, new approaches to environmental preservation, and ways to promote thriving societies are at the top of the list.

The Royal Commission specialists will examine AlUla's methodology during the session in terms of overcoming obstacles and pursuing long-term goals in the presence of Waleed Aldayel, PMO Director at RCU, and Razan Al Mubarak, IUCN president.

Through its participation in the meetings of South Korea, RCU hopes to strengthen its position as a knowledge-based organization and strategic model for the preservation of the natural and cultural environment. It also hopes to open up channels of communication for the exchange of ideas and experiences between various parties and pertinent organizations.

In accordance with the "Vision of AlUla," RCU seeks to preserve the cultural, historical, and natural heritage through a number of initiatives and programs. Additionally, by enrolling citizens of AlUla in training programs for heritage preservation, RCU helps to raise awareness and encourage community participation in these programs.

In February 2021, the Royal Commission for AlUla obtained government membership in the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) in recognition of its strong commitment to efforts to safeguard the environment in AlUla Governorate, including support and empowerment of reserves, management of natural heritage through the Union's Green List of Protected Areas and Preserves, and assistance with the implementation of wildlife management and restoration.

The agreement strengthens RCU's goal of safeguarding natural resources and reestablishing environmental balance in the governorate, which helps to advance AlUla's status as one of the world's top tourist destinations for natural, archaeological, and cultural sites. By assigning 80% of AlUla's land, RCU's objective for restoring environmental balance is in keeping with the "Saudi Green" strategy.

It is important to note that the IUCN was founded in 1948 and that the Kingdom became a member of the Union in 1981.

It has recently taken steps in the Arabian Peninsula to make sure that the Red List of Endangered Species and the Green List of Protected Areas are incorporated into local plans and legislation.



Nobel Peace Prize Could Honor UNRWA, ICJ, Guterres

FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
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Nobel Peace Prize Could Honor UNRWA, ICJ, Guterres

FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: A damaged sign is pictured at the headquarters of UNRWA, following an Israeli raid, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, in Gaza City, July 12, 2024. REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas/File Photo

The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), the International Court of Justice and UN chief Antonio Guterres are among the favorites for this year's Nobel Peace Prize, experts said, in a year marked by the wars in Gaza and Ukraine.

Given past form, the Norwegian Nobel Committee is capable of springing a complete surprise in the Oct. 11 announcement - including not giving the prize at all, Reuters reported.

Bookmakers have Russian dissident Alexei Navalny, who died in an Arctic penal colony in February, as a favorite to win this year's award. But that is not possible as he cannot receive the prize posthumously.

Another bookies' favorite, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskiy, is unlikely to win because he is the leader of a nation at war.

Instead, with 2024 marked by the now spreading Israel-Hamas war, a Ukraine conflict in its third year and bloodshed in Sudan displacing more than 10 million, the committee may want to focus on humanitarian actors helping to relieve civilian suffering.
"UNRWA could be one such candidate. They're doing extremely important work for civilian Palestinians that experience the sufferings of the war in Gaza," Henrik Urdal, director of the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told Reuters.
A prize to UNRWA would be controversial, he added, given the allegations made by Israel that some of its staff took part in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel by Hamas that triggered the war in Gaza.
Some countries halted their funding to UNRWA as a result of the allegations. Most donors have since resumed. In August, an internal UN investigation said that nine staff members may have been involved in the attack and have been fired.
UNRWA has said Israel is trying to have the organization disbanded. The agency, set up in 1949 in the aftermath of the war over Israel's creation, provides humanitarian assistance to millions of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon.

UN SECRETARY-GENERAL GUTERRES
The secretive five-strong awarding committee, appointed by the Norwegian parliament, may also want to focus on the need to bolster the international world order built after the Second World War and its crowning institution, the United Nations.

That could mean a prize to its secretary-general, Antonio Guterres, with or without its top court, the ICJ, said Asle Sveen, a historian of the Nobel Peace Prize.

"Guterres is the top symbol of the UN," Sveen told Reuters. "(And) the ICJ's most important duty is to ensure that international humanitarian law is applied globally."

The ICJ has condemned Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine and called on Israel to ensure that no genocide is committed in Gaza in an ongoing case Israel has repeatedly dismissed as baseless.

But the committee could also decide that no one gets the prize, something that has happened on 19 occasions, the last time in 1972.

"Maybe this is the year in which the Nobel Peace Prize committee should simply withhold the prize and focus attention on the fact that this is a warring planet," Dan Smith, head of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, told Reuters.

Thousands of people can propose names, including former laureates, members of parliaments and university professors of history or law. Nominations are secret for 50 years, but those who nominate can choose to reveal their choices.

Some of the known nominees include the UN refugee agency, UNHCR, Pope Francis and British naturalist David Attenborough. In total 286 candidates have been nominated for this year's prize.

Last year's prize went to Narges Mohammadi, an imprisoned Iranian women's rights advocate, in a rebuke to Tehran's leaders and boost for anti-government protesters.