Bayan Sami Abdul Rahman, Senior Advisor to Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) Prime Minister Masrour Barzani for Foreign Affairs and Climate Change, announced on X that she had met with officials from UN organizations, the Iraqi federal government, and foreign diplomats during her visit to Baghdad to discuss climate action and the current regional situation.
She was welcomed to Baghdad on January 26 by Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Fuad Hussein.
During her visit, she met with officials from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Iraq, the World Food Program (WFP), and the UN Development Program (UNDP).
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She met with Armen Asryan and Rida Boutros of IOM Iraq on the KRG’s priorities in climate change and how to harness the outcomes of the 2024 COP29 Climate Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan and prepare the Kurdistan Region for COP30, which will be held in Brazil.
Last year, Abdul Rahman participated in COP29 in Baku, where she highlighted the impact of climate change on the displaced and refugee communities in Kurdistan.
On January 28, she also met with Abdel Mageed Yahia, the WFP Representative and Country Director in Iraq and discussed the nexus between climate change, food security, and national security, and ways to build cooperation.
Also on January 28, she met with Auke Lootsma, Resident Representative of the UNDP in Iraq and thanked the UNDP for its support of the Kurdistan Region and the Iraqi federal government on climate change and discussed how the KRG and the UNDP can enhance coordination.
Moreover, she met with EU Ambassador to Iraq Thomas Seiler on Tuesday and discussed regional issues, including Syria, as well as the important work that the EU and member countries conduct in Kurdistan and other parts of Iraq.
Additionally, she met with Iraqi officials such as Federal Minister of Water Resources Aoun Diab Abdullah, where she discussed the challenges facing Iraq in terms of water scarcity and the steps that can be taken to tackle them.
She also met with the Federal Minister of Environment Hallo Askari and discussed the priorities of the Kurdistan Region and Iraq as a whole in climate change and environmental protection.
