Regional initiative on financial resource mobilization for strengthening the implementation of the UNCCD in Central and Eastern Europe

Expert Consultation and Workshop
10 –13 September 2008,
Brno, Czech Republic

Financial resource for implementation of the UNCCD constitutes a major problem for all affected country parties. Country Parties in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) operating under the Regional Implementation Annex V, experienced serious land degradation, in some cases as a result of recent shifts to market economies. CEE countries, along with many other affected countries, need to increasingly look at financing for rehabilitation of degraded land and sustainable land management (SLM) more strategically and explore both internal and external sources, different avenues for partnership building as well as the potential of other sectors like trade and market access to increase investment flows to SLM and rehabilitation of degraded lands.

In response to this and in line with the new UNCCD 10 year strategic plan, the Global Mechanism and the Secretariat, jointly with Ministry of Environment of the Czech Republic, have developed an initiative aiming at enabling UNCCD focal points to develop and implement national financial strategies, based on integrated investment frameworks to combat desertification and land degradation. This includes reviewing national processes, but also some of the sub-regional and regional ones; innovative sources of finance; as well as external funding processes and sources for ways to tap existing and take advantage of up till now unused sources of funding.

Among the activities of the initiative, an expert consultation and workshop on “Financial Resources Mobilization for UNCCD implementation in the CEE countries” is scheduled to take place from 10 to 13 September 2008 in Brno, Czech Republic at the Mendel University of Forestry and Agriculture. The workshop is organized and hosted by the Czech Republic and aimed at:

• Better understand the current potential for domestic and external processes, instruments and mechanism for resources mobilization and the value of developing national financing strategies leading to investment frameworks.
• Identify potential financing sources and opportunities that can support initiatives on sustainable land management identified through the UNCCD process in Central and Eastern Europe.
• Identify capacity building needs for the efficient development and formulation of national financing strategies and the building up of investment frameworks.
• Develop of a capacity-building programme that will be designed to assist national focal points of affected CEE countries in the preparation of national financing strategies.