Sustainable Ramadan

Name: Sustainable Ramadan
Start: 2023-03-21
End: 2023-04-23

21 March - 23 April 2023

Overview

Launch with Hilton Group

Multimedia

Speech

Background

As part of phase 2 of the Recipe of Change (ROC) campaign and following the appointment of Chef Leyla Fathallah as UNEP Advocate on Food Waste in West Asia region, the United Nations Environment Program - Regional Office of West Asia (UNEP ROWA) has developed a media campaign under the title of Sustainable Ramadan to raise awareness on food waste and trigger behavioral change.

According to the State of Food Waste in West Asia report “During Ramadan, 30-50 per cent of the food prepared in Saudi Arabia is thrown away; these shares reach 25 per cent in Qatar and 40 per cent in the United Arab Emirates.” This increase in food waste is attributed to the preparation of big quantities of food with leftovers being thrown away. This is common in the West Asia region, a region with socio-cultural traditions and annual religious festivals.

Objective

The objective of holding this media campaign throughout the Holy month of Ramadan, is to raise awareness about the adverse impacts of food waste on the environment, on food security notably in a region that relies heavily on imports, and on climate change. The campaign will also include information on ways to reduce food waste and to promote action towards achieving SDG 12.3 in an interactive and visually appealing manner.

The campaign will be rolled out through the various social media accounts (Instagram ,Twitter, Youtube,) and website of UNEP (mainly ROWA, but also UNEP global channels). In addition, the campaign toolkit (including social media cards, posts, animated content, and flyers…) has been shared with relevant stakeholders to mark their participation in this campaign by showcasing the package on their social media channels. These would be various NGOs, governmental bodies, academia, and the private sector notably through the Ho.Re.Ca industry. UN agencies have been engaged through the UNCT and RC framework, to ensure coordination and act as one UN.

The campaign features our advocate Chef Leyla Fathallah who will assist UNEP ROWA in promoting the material to reach the maximum audience possible as she currently has over 1.4 million followers on Instagram and 2 million on Facebook. The campaign was launched on 21 March 2023 and will run on a daily basis throughout the Holy month.

This campaign is supported by GO4SDGs

Impact

The campaign’s visibility and reach went far & beyond social media, as the Recipe of Change Campaign’s materials, messaging, and logo were featured at the venues of critical stakeholders in the Ho.re.ca. sector, such as the Conrad Hotel in Dubai along with the Waldorf Astoria Doha Hotel & the Hilton Hotel in Riyadh, during the launch event and all throughout the Holy Month. A dedicated Sustainable Ramadan toolkit was developed and made available for the partners.

Outreach numbers hit a new record with the Sustainable Ramadan campaign content reaching more than 200,000 accounts, with the vast majority being youth (under 35 years old age range). Chef Leyla Fathallah’s (UNEP Food Waste Advocate for West Asia) reels were the most successful during March, having the biggest reach and interactions: her zero-waste brioche recipe reached 94,568 accounts, the zero-waste Mouloukhiyeh recipe reached 51,768 accounts in total.

The launch event of the Sustainable Ramadan Campaign hosted at Conrad Dubai and the partnership of UNEP ROWA with Hilton within the Green Ramadan initiative were featured in more than 50 news platforms, and 6 outlets interviewed the Regional Director. This came to the attention of the media and brought interest to other news outlets to dedicate full episodes and interviews on the topic of food waste in West Asia, thus greatly increasing the audience and impact of the initiative.

As for the Green Ramadan initiative rolled out with Hilton and Winnow, putting in place food waste measuring, nudging and messaging for clients, as well as menu engineering, the average post-consumer waste was reduced by 60%-65% over the Holy Month in the three engaged outlets Conrad Dubai, Waldorf Astoria Qatar, and Hilton Riyadh.

On March 21nd UNEP ROWA announced the appointment of Chef Leyla Fathallah as UNEP's Advocate on Food Waste in West Asia, in an event hosted by Conrad Hilton in Dubai. The event also launched the Sustainable Ramadan Campaign that will run through the holy month, urging and helping people and businesses to live this Ramadan in a more sustainable way. The campaign falls under UNEP West Asia's recipe of Change and was developed with Chef Leyla.

During the event, Conrad Dubai also announced that it has joined the campaign and launched its Green Ramadan campaign.

Informative videos with Chef Leyla:

Introduction to campaign - Watch
Launching of the Campaign - Watch
Toast and Sour Cream Recipe - Watch
Hints about sustainable habits - Watch
Less waste for more Food security - Watch
How to reduce food waste at the household level (1) - Watch
How to reduce food waste at the household level (2) - Watch
Mloukhiye Recipe - Watch
Chips Recipe - Watch
The Art of Reusing Leftovers - Watch
Sustainable lifestyle during Ramadan - Watch
Save Store Share (1) - Watch
Save Store Share (2) - Watch
Call to action - Watch
Conclusion / Closing of campaign - Watch

Speech by Sami Dimassi, UNEP Representative and Regional Director for West Asia

Dubai - 21/03/2023

Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentlemen,

Ramadan Kareem everyone , may it be full of blessings, forgiveness and guidance for you and your loved ones.

Half the food waste, double the blessings, a very meaningful slogan for a very important and hopefully impactful Sustainable Ramadan campaign.

It gives me great pleasure to be back in the United Arab Emirates, on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, to launch this campaign aiming to trigger behavior change to reduce food waste in the West Asia region.

Today, and from the United Arab Emirates we are taking a step towards preventing food waste globally. As we stand alongside the people and government of UAE supporting the ambitious targets set forth by their National Food Security Strategy 2051 to reduce food loss and waste by 50% by 2030, it is of utmost importance that we amplify the call for action.

Back in September 2022, Alongside 5 other hotels and their respective chains, Hilton has pledged under the UNEP West Asia’s Recipe of Change campaign to halve the amount of food waste they are producing, and today Hilton and Conrad Dubai is graciously hosting our gathering to kick off the sustainable Ramadan campaign under phase 2 of the recipe of change. To this we cannot but acknowledge Hilton group commitment to turn pledges into action and thank them for being leaders and drivers of change hoping and looking forwards for others to follow suit.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our food systems and consumption practices are major contributors to the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. As a result, the impact of food waste cannot be understated.

Every year, almost one billion tonnes of food is wasted. To be specific, the exact number is 931 million tonnes. An alarming number to say the least. It is time we take responsibility for our actions and change our behavior accordingly.

Partnering with individuals, businesses, and governments to reduce food waste is a critical step towards a sustainable future, not only to ensure food security and save costs at all levels, but also to reduce our carbon footprint, protect natural resources, and promote biodiversity.

In West Asia, food waste increases during religious and social festivities due to the preparation of meals that far exceed families’ needs. With leftovers often being thrown away, reducing food waste in the region can only be achieved with a switch towards good behaviors and sustainable lifestyles.

We are delighted to be here launching the Sustainable Ramadan campaign to encourage responsible consumer behavior and reduce food waste during this holy month through focused messages, tips, recipes and actions designed to raise awareness about food waste. We believe that by sharing stories, statistics, and tips, we can make a real difference.

We inherited a planet that is much healthier than what we are living in today, and it is time we take responsibility to the legacy we hand over to our youth. Something we can only attempt to achieve by making sustainability a lifestyle.

Let us make this upcoming Ramadan a sustainable one, not only spreading our slogan: “half the food waste, double the blessings” but living it during and beyond Ramdan.

Dear Friends,

Towards The end of 2021, I met a lady of great values and a drive to make the world a better place, eager to leave a legacy for future generations. A house wife looking after her household with passion, a daughter with a great relationship with her parents, a friend to allot of people in need and all of this while being a strong opinionated professional woman from our region.

Tonight, I am delighted to announce Chef Leyla Fathallah (Lebanon) as UNEP’s Advocate on Food Waste in the West Asia region. Chef Leyla is a renowned chef that has been working in the food industry for more than 15 years. She has previously worked alongside UNEP as a voice for the Recipe of Change.

We in UNEP are thrilled to have her onboard for as her passion, commitment, and influence will without any doubt inspire our region and trigger the necessary change we seek.

Chef Leyla, my dear friend , please join me to receive your certificate of appointment as UNEP’s Advocate on Food Waste in West Asia.