The aim for the future is to forge a global partnership to reverse and prevent desertification/land degradation and to mitigate the effects of drought in affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability
(The Strategy II. Vision)

UNCCD coming into a new decade

Developed as a result of the Rio Summit, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is a unique instrument that has brought attention to land degradation in the drylands where exist some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and people in the world. Ten years after its coming into force, the UNCCD operates today in an environment that has evolved considerably since when it was first negotiated:

»  Development paradigm has shifted largely since the Rio, especially with adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More focus on issues such as Africa and the least-developed countries, stronger commitment for climate change mitigation and adaptation, prospects of global agricultural trade liberalization, and growing numbers of environmental refugees and migrants are shedding new light on the impacts of poverty and environmental degradation today.

»  The scientific environment has evolved with the work of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) on dryland ecosystems, contributing to improved understanding of the biophysical and socio-economic trends relating to land degradation in global drylands, and their impacts on human and ecosystem well-being

»  The financing environment has also changed profoundly in the last decade, with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) becoming a financial mechanism of the Convention, official development assistance (ODA) flows increasing again after a decade of stagnation, and declining resources for rural development and agriculture.

In order to face these different opportunities and constraints which will condition its implementation in the forthcoming decade, the 10-year strategic plan for 2008-2018 (The Strategy) was unanimously adopted by the Parties at COP8 held in Madrid in September 2007.

The Strategy provides a unique opportunity to address some of the Convention's key challenges, to capitalize on its strengths, to seize opportunities provided by the new policy and financing environment, and to create a new, revitalized common ground for all UNCCD stakeholders.

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New Secretariat structure

»  Development paradigm has shifted largely since the Rio, especially with adoption of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). More focus on issues such as Africa and the least-developed countries, stronger commitment for climate change mitigation and adaptation, prospects of global agricultural trade liberalization, and growing numbers of environmental refugees and migrants are shedding new light on the impacts of poverty and environmental degradation today.

»  The scientific environment has evolved with the work of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) on dryland ecosystems, contributing to improved understanding of the biophysical and socio-economic trends relating to land degradation in global drylands, and their impacts on human and ecosystem well-being

»  The financing environment has also changed profoundly in the last decade, with the Global Environment Facility (GEF) becoming a financial mechanism of the Convention, official development assistance (ODA) flows increasing again after a decade of stagnation, and declining resources for rural development and agriculture.

In order to face these different opportunities and constraints which will condition its implementation in the forthcoming decade, the 10-year strategic plan for 2008-2018 (The Strategy) was unanimously adopted by the Parties at COP8 held in Madrid in September 2007.

The Strategy provides a unique opportunity to address some of the Convention's key challenges, to capitalize on its strengths, to seize opportunities provided by the new policy and financing environment, and to create a new, revitalized common ground for all UNCCD stakeholders.

Figure 2. New Structure of the UNCCD secretariat (2010 -2011 )

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