Strategic Partnership between UNCCD and UNDP 4 - 5 June 2009, Bonn, Germany

The UNCCD/UNDP Retreat was held on 4-5 June in Bonn to build a common ground and a cooperate framework for partnership to combat desertification, land degradation and to mitigate effects of drought. The retreat was attended by 14 participants from the UNCCD secretariat, two from the Global Mechanism, and six from the UNDP Environment and Energy Group and Drylands Development Center.

After the productive meeting of two days, UNCCD and UNDP have agreed to establish a strategic working partnership on a pilot basis, motivated by the urgent need to draw attention to and catalyze international cooperation to address the needs of the 1 billion of the planet’s poorest people living in the drylands, in particular under scenarios of climate change.

This partnership will build on the complementarities and respective comparative advantages of the two institutions. UNDP and the Secretariat of the UNCCD have agreed to collaborate on a range of programmatic actions with the overall aim of reducing poverty by enhancing ecosystem functions and services in the drylands.