The “institutional framework for sustainable development” (IFSD) constitutes one of the thematic focus areas of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, also known as Rio+20), which is being organized in 2012 in order to secure renewed political commitment for sustainable development, assess the progress to date and the remaining gaps in the implementation of the outcomes of the major summits on sustainable development, and address new and emerging challenges.As such, and as part of a series of national and regional preparatory meetings for Rio+20, the current workshop aims to discuss with sustainable development institutions in the Arab region the needed reforms to the institutional framework for sustainable development at the national, regional and global levels in light of new and emerging challenges.

The objective of the workshop is to:

·Discuss existing institutional framework in the Arab region at the national and regional levels, assess its strengths and weaknesses, and identify possible reforms to address emerging challenges facing sustainable development;

·Help Arab countries to position themselves in relation to the issue of international environmental governance, which is being negotiated as part of Rio +20, building on the outcomes of the Solo Dialogue;

·Prepare a position statement on the above issues as input to Arab Preparatory Conference for Rio+20 (Cairo, 16-17 October 2011).