The 2010 annual Meeting of the WANA Forum, which convened this year under the framework of Pursuing Supranational Solutions to the Challenges of Carrying Capacity, was inaugurated by HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan, WANA Forum Chairman, and Yohei Sasakawa, Chairman of The Nippon Foundation, and opened with an overview by Ismail Serageldin on Transcending Regional Carrying Capacity. Serageldin, who is WANA Forum International Senior Advisory Board Member, gave one of his dazzling presentations, which encompassed all facets of carrying capacity challenges – from war and peace, oil and energy, sustainability, social cohesion, participation and empowerment, to climate change and water, and where he presented workable solutions for all fronts. “It is not enough to celebrate the earth and all its inhabitants”, he urged, “we must restore what we have destroyed”.
The WANA process was launched, in order to stimulate and strengthen regional dialogue in the West Asia and North Africa region, and to address urgent issues that cannot wait until ongoing conflicts are resolved. The forum brings together key individuals from all over the WANA region to identify and prioritize the most pressing shared concerns and to formulate concrete policy proposals to be presented to the decision-makers.