From competition to Summer Academy
In June, Saudi Youth Society held the fourth edition of Youth Speak & Compete, from 11 to 13 June 2026. Five teams pitched ideas for the Sustainable Development Goals to a judging panel that included UNDP Programme Coordinator Rawia Salih. The two winning teams were selected for a month with UNDP through the UNDP Summer Academy Training Programme, which UNDP runs in partnership with Saudi Youth Society.At the end of the academy, the teams presented their proposals at UN House. Experts from UNDP, the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) reviewed the proposals and questioned the teams.First place: a second life for clothes
The winning team proposed a way to reduce fast fashion waste using delivery networks that already exist. Under their idea, customers receiving an online order would hand unwanted clothes to the delivery driver, and charities would sort them. Wearable items would be passed on, and damaged textiles would go to recycling, where they could become thermal and acoustic insulation for buildings.Second place: a roadmap for e-waste
The second team proposed a national roadmap for electronic waste, built around a digital platform that would connect consumers, recyclers, private companies and government. Under the proposal, devices would be registered, assessed and sent for refurbishment, parts recovery or certified recycling of materials such as copper, aluminium and plastics. The team demonstrated the concept with a live barcode scan and suggested starting with a pilot in Riyadh.The proposed roadmap has six pillars:policy implementationcollection infrastructuredigital innovationpublic awarenessrecycling capacitydata managementThe experts’ questions
The panel pressed the teams on product design, repairability, producer responsibility and consumer behaviour. Both proposals started from one principle: what is considered waste can become a resource.In their own words
At the end of the programme, the participants spoke about what they learned during their month with UNDP.
  Participants of the UNDP Summer Academy 2026 share their experience. Video: UNDP Saudi ArabiaThis story is based on press releases first published by UNDP Saudi Arabia: From Waste to Opportunity and Youth Speak & Compete 2026.

Under the existing Memorandum of Technical Cooperation between the Human Rights Commission and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), and as part of the programme’s active role in promoting a culture of human rights and strengthening national capacities, a Training of Trainers programme on the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women was designed and delivered from 14 to 18 June 2026. The programme brought together 22 participants from various relevant government entities. It forms part of a series of training programmes focused on the international conventions ratified by the Kingdom, aimed at supporting and strengthening engagement with international human rights mechanisms.At the conclusion of the programme, Her Excellency Dr Hala bint Mazyad Al-Tuwaijri, President of the Human Rights Commission, affirmed that building specialised national capacities in human rights is a fundamental pillar of raising awareness of international human rights standards and embedding the principles of equality and non-discrimination. She noted that the programme forms part of the Commission’s efforts to empower national professionals and develop their skills, helping to support compliance with the international conventions ratified by the Kingdom and strengthen professional practices concerning women’s rights and their protection. Her Excellency also commended the ongoing cooperation with OHCHR, emphasising the importance of international partnerships in exchanging expertise and building specialised national capacities.Mr Bahauddin Al-Saadi, OHCHR’s Technical Cooperation Programme Coordinator, stressed that these efforts would help develop a qualified national cadre capable of delivering training on women’s fundamental rights in Saudi Arabia, supporting empowerment programmes, and raising awareness of best practices in line with the Kingdom’s objectives to strengthen women’s role and active participation.The training programme highlighted the principles governing the protection of women’s rights under international human rights law, as well as the principles of non-discrimination. Participants also received training in the essential skills required to design and manage specialised training programmes on the protection of women’s rights.

At the United Nations House in Riyadh, ambassadors, senior diplomats, government representatives, and partners gathered for a joint seminar hosted by the United Nations Resident Coordinator Office in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Embassy of the Republic of Tajikistan, ahead of the Fourth High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action, “Water for Sustainable Development, 2018–2028,” to be held in Dushanbe from 25 to 28 May 2026.The seminar was not simply a preparatory meeting for an international conference. It offered a space to connect the global conversation on water with the growing pressures and transformations shaping the region and the wider world. The presence of the diplomatic community, government representatives, and partners reflected the importance of water as a shared issue that crosses borders and calls for deeper cooperation among states, institutions, and international platforms. Mr. Mohamed Elzarkani, United Nations Resident Coordinator in Saudi Arabia, opened the discussion from a fundamental point: despite the progress achieved under the Water Action Decade, the global water crisis continues to affect the lives of billions of people. He reminded participants that 2.1 billion people still lack safe drinking water services, 3.4 billion people do not have access to safely managed sanitation, and around four billion experience severe water scarcity for at least one month each year.Through these figures, the Resident Coordinator brought the discussion back to its human core. The burden of the water crisis does not fall equally on everyone. It is felt most sharply by women and girls, children, older persons, persons with disabilities, and communities already living at the margins of basic services. From this perspective, he stressed that water is not an isolated technical file, but a development, humanitarian, and political issue at once. He reminded the room that “water shows us what multilateral cooperation can deliver when it is serious and sustained.”
  From this global framing, the conversation moved to Dushanbe. H.E. Mr. Akram Karimi, Ambassador of the Republic of Tajikistan to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, presented the substance of the upcoming Dushanbe Conference, explaining how the Dushanbe Water Process has helped sustain dialogue, partnerships, and political momentum around water since the launch of the Water Action Decade in 2018.Ambassador Karimi did not present the conference as a standalone event, but as part of a longer international pathway. The May conference in Dushanbe comes within a wider agenda leading to the 2026 United Nations Water Conference, co-hosted by the United Arab Emirates and the Republic of Senegal in December, and then to the 2028 United Nations Water Conference, which Tajikistan will host in Dushanbe. In that sense, the upcoming Dushanbe Conference appeared as one link in a wider international chain seeking to keep water at the heart of multilateral action. As the discussion expanded from the upcoming conference to the broader institutional architecture of international water cooperation, H.E. Dr. Fahd bin Abdulrahman Balghunaim, Head of the Founding Team of the Global Water Organization, addressed the Organization’s mandate and direction. Established in Riyadh by its founding Member States under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, the Global Water Organization is emerging as one of the new international platforms working to advance research and development, innovation, financing, and the strengthening of national water capabilities.Through this intervention, Riyadh was present not only as the host city of the seminar, but also as a place where a new international platform for water is taking shape. The discussion around the Global Water Organization raised a central question: how shared challenges can be translated into frameworks capable of bringing together knowledge, financing, and institutional expertise in ways that serve the countries and communities most in need of practical solutions. The Saudi experience was also present as a national transformation pathway connected to a wider global agenda. Mr. Ibrahim Alhelali, Strategic Advisor to the Deputyship of Water at the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, presented Saudi Arabia’s water transformation under Vision 2030 and the National Water Strategy.He highlighted the Kingdom’s progress in integrated water resources management, the reuse of treated wastewater, desalination, and water innovation. He also pointed to two upcoming moments in the global water calendar that Saudi Arabia is convening: the International Water Research Center, announced during COP16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, and the 11th World Water Forum, to be hosted in Riyadh in 2027. To ensure the discussion did not remain only at the level of policies and international conferences, the intervention by the United Nations Development Programme brought the focus back to long-term partnerships and accumulated institutional work. Mr. Asim Salah, Senior Programme Officer at UNDP in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, delivered remarks on behalf of H.E. Ms. Nahid Hussein, UNDP Resident Representative for the Kingdom.He spoke to more than two decades of partnership between UNDP and the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture in integrated water resources management, institutional capacity development, and evidence-based policymaking in support of Sustainable Development Goal 6. Through this experience, he reminded participants that “water cooperation is not a choice. It is a necessity.”
  By the end of the interventions, the shared message had become clearer: the scale and urgency of the water challenge leave little room for fragmented action. What is needed is deeper cooperation across the international system, more platforms that complement one another, and more Member States bringing their experience and resources into shared frameworks. The discussion in the room brought together the diplomatic community, the Government of Saudi Arabia, an emerging intergovernmental platform, and long-standing UN partners, offering a close reflection of the spirit of the Water Action Decade and the broad engagement it was designed to foster.In the open discussion that closed the seminar, the conversation turned to the questions shaping the future: the role of artificial intelligence in water management, the financing requirements needed to accelerate implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 6, and the importance of engaging women, youth, older persons, persons with disabilities, and local communities in shaping water decisions and services.The Fourth Dushanbe Water Action Decade Conference will open on 25 May 2026 with Conference Forums and side events, including a dedicated Forum on Water and AI, before the high-level segments take place on 26 and 27 May at the Kokhi Somon complex in Dushanbe.The Conference will also launch initial dialogue on the role of water in the post-2030 development agenda, extending the conversation that took place in Riyadh and reaffirming that water will remain one of the issues that tests the international community’s ability to work together, not only in moments of crisis, but in building long-term pathways for development and stability.

The total area of the country is 215 million hectares, and less than one million hectares is currently under cultivation with several crops including date palm, cereals, forages, open field vegetables, and Mediterranean, subtropical, and tropical fruits. Most cultivated lands are calcareous with limited soil depth, moderate to high soil pH, low organic matter content, not well-developed soil structures with low nutrients content. Besides limited cultivated area, there are serious natural and human-caused limitations and challenges for agriculture. One of the most pronounced problems of desert cultivation in Saudi Arabia is soil salinity and its severe implications on agricultural productivity. Soil salinity is widely spread all over the country (more than 70 percent of the fields surveyed in south and north) and has a significant negative effect on crop yields of 17 percent to 38 percent.The ongoing Sustainable Rural Agriculture Development (SRAD) project implemented by the Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA), Saudi REEF and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) is addressing the challenges of agricultural productivity and improving rural livelihoods while managing the vital natural resources. Management of soil salinity and its effect on crop production is an important area along with water management, soil nutrition and other inputs. The project is introducing good practices including micro irrigation to reduce overwatering and sensitizing on providing adequate drainage and judicious application of fertilizers to manage soil salinity issues. The farmers and extension agents are being empowered for tackling soil salinity including the causes of salinity, its harmful effects on soil and crop production and the solutions to overcome this problem such as the improvement of the drainage systems of irrigated agricultural land and the introduction of precise and accurate fertility programs. One of the problems noted in the course was the lack of adequate information on soil salinity management in desert agriculture. Local farmers and other stakeholders need the basic information on soil salinity, in Arabic, to be able to apply the good practices for sustainable agriculture production.The SRAD Rainfed Cereals team has developed an informative soil salinity manual in Arabic that deals with the important aspects of soil salinity including the causes, the harmful effects, and the practical solutions implementable at local level to tackle this problem is desert agriculture. This manual is intended for local stakeholders and will also be extremely useful for all Arabic speaking stakeholders. Dr. Abdulla Alhendi, Technical Expert, Rainfed Cereals component of SRAD emphasized that soil salinity issue in desert cultivation is very delicate and detrimental to crop productivity if not tackled and solved very professionally.Salinity is increasingly turning into a big abiotic challenges in Saudi Arabia that needs urgent attention. This publication provides pragmatic solutions that can have large implications for increasing productivity with resilience and management of land and vital natural resources in a sustainable manner.Read more here: https://doi.org/10.4060/cd3029ar to publication "Soil salinity: A guide on its harmful effects and prevention methods."