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International Development Cooperation in Flux, Can it Deliver?

International development cooperation is in flux, casting a shadow over its ability to deliver, in an optimal manner, the internationally agreed ‘priority list’, the Millennium Development Goals. more..

Interviews with UNCCD's Executive Secretary at the UN Climate Change Conference

Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja was interviewed by various media at the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen in December 2000. Listen in on his interview with Climate Change Television more..

Africa Needs a Paradigm Shift to End Poverty

At a high-level meeting of African decision makers, Executive Secretary Gnacadja underscored the need for a paradigm shift among policy makers towards drylands, without which poverty eradication will not be realized by 2015 more..

Championing Sustainable Land Management

The UNCCD secretariat has launched the Sustainable Land Management (SLM) Champion programme more..

Progress Made to Identify Global Drought Monitoring Indicators

Drought experts have agreed on one indicator to determine the presence of a drought, but are yet to reach consensus on two other crucial indicators, that would enable the global community to determine the on-set and severity of drought. more..

Partnership and Collaboration Essential to Combat Desertification, UN Claims

Executive Secretary Luc Gnacadja met with parliamentary representatives from Murcia, in south-east Spain, to discuss measures to address desertification and land degradation in the region more..

Copenhagen Climate Conference:

Highlights on Land Degradation and Sustainable Land Management

Land degradation, desertification, drought and sustainable land management are recurrent themes at the UN Climate Change Conference now in progress in Copenhagen. The proceedings for today more..

10 policy actions towards Sustainable Land Management

Recommendations from the UNCCD 1st Scientific Conference are now available as a science brief more..

Toward one UN approach to Land

The first inter-agency working group of the United Nations focusing on the land issue concluded its formal meeting with an agreement to prepare, jointly, a Rapid Response Report on Drylands by fall 2010 more..

UNCCD News Issue No. 3 now available

It features our preview of the Copenhagen climate summit, highlights from our COP9 in Buenos Aires, an interview with desertification expert Prof. Uriel Safriel, a lively profile of Namib Desert scientist Dr. Mary Seely, and much more..

Breaking news from the GEF Council: Enabling activities and a new resource allocation framework usher predictability into GEF funding to combat land degradation

Decisions made at the recently concluded GEF Council meeting in Washington have initiated predictability for financial resources necessary to the implementation of programme and plan to combat land degradation. The enhanced System for Transparent Allocation of Resources (STAR) will be operational in 2010 for the 5th GEF replenishment. The STAR provides individual country allocations for the land degradation focal area, as well as country allocation for enabling activities in relation to reporting on implementation of the Strategy more..

Investing in Degraded Land Has Returns the United Nations Claims

During the last 25 years, land improvement globally has occurred mainly in the drylands. Therefore, investing in the drylands is cost effective and investments to combat land degradation indispensable for global sustainability. more..

UNCCD Eighth Round Table of Parliamentarians Message to the World Food Summit

The UNCCD’s Eighth Round Table of Members of Parliament has delivered its message on Food Security to the World Food Summit taking place in Rome, Italy more..

Bonn Symposium 2009: Sustainable Development in Times of Crises
Opposition or Opportunity?

Climate change represents together with the current financial, energy and food crises acute signs of long-term mis-development. The Bonn Symposium 2009 (23 – 24 November) calls for a coherent reflection upon the structural causes of the current crises. more..

Running dry? - Climate change in drylands

UNCCD library collection has recently added the publication "Running dry? - Climate change in drylands and how to cope with it" by GTZ. The book provides the first comprehensive overview of the state of research on the complex issues surrounding climate change and drylands. more..

16th of October is the World Food Day:

Message from Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification on the World Food Day (eng)   (de)

Parliamentarians Urge Greater Efforts on Land Degradation

Poverty and climate change are two of the main challenges our planet is facing this century. Challenges that cannot be tackled without addressing food security and desertification issues more..

UNCCD Executive Secretary at the African Session of the 7th World Forum on Sustainable Development

The UNCCD Executive Secretary spoke about "soil, not in the sense of its place in the planet, but as the earth that feeds us" at the 7th World Forum on Sustainable Development is held from 8-13 October in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. more.. (in French)

COP 9 in Buenos Aires will be both Carbon Neutral and Environment neutral, with the proceeds from the carbon offsets earmarked for two local environmental projects in Argentina.
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The secretariat has released two informal documents that provide an overview of the COP 9 structure and organization, and answers to frequently asked questions on the Budget.
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As the Convention entered into a new decade with its 10-year strategic plan and framework (The Strategy), there is a need for affected country parties to align their action programmes with it. Against this backdrop, the guidelines for the alignment process have been prepared.
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The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) have launched the first African Drylands Commodity Atlas.
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Comments sought on Draft UNCCD Water Policy Advocacy Framework

Following the adoption of the 10-year strategic plan and framework to enhance the implementation of the Convention (2008-2018), the Secretariat has been taking initiatives to enhance the role of water resources in sustaining the natural ecosystems and human well-being. We invite your views and comments on our draft water policy advocacy framework. more..

Sustainable land management (SLM) offers the international community strong possibilities for adapting to climate change and reducing carbon emissions. Despite this conclusion by climate change negotiators and the UNCCD stakeholders who participated in the one-day Land Day event held on 6 June 2009 in Bonn, Germany, the potential in soil carbon sequestration through SLM is little explored and underutilized. It is not even under consideration by the negotiators expected to seal the post-Kyoto deal in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 2009. Read the Report on Land Day, now available online, for an exploration of this issue. more..

The G-8 Summit that concluded in L’Aquila, Italy, on Friday, 10 July 2009, issued a declaration in which members described how they intend to address desertification, land degradation and drought. The 134-paragraph declaration, titled, “Responsible Leadership for a Sustainable Future”, addresses several issues concerning the world economy, sustainable use of natural resources and development. more..

UNCCD press release

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International Congress “Oasis and Sustainable Tourism”
8 to 10 August. Water Tribune. EXPO Water 2008 more..

The beauty of the Deserts the challenge of Desertification.
Deserts of the Earth by Michael Martin more..

UNCCD Photobank
Visit the UNCCD photo gallery for images on desertification.
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Desert nights: Tales from the desert.
International Film Festival, Rome, 1-7 December 2006.