Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought (2022-2024)

No country is immune to drought and its impacts.

Aggravated by climate change, the impacts of drought are projected to increase in severity and duration, affecting all sectors of society: agriculture, energy, healthcare, transportation and tourism^[1]. In the health sector alone, an estimated 55 million people globally are directly affected by drought every year (WHO, 2021).

[1] IPCC Special Report "Global Warming of 1.5 ºC", Chapter 3: "Impacts of 1.5o C global warming on natural and human systems"

To turn reactive approaches into proactive mechanisms, there is a need to invest in drought risk identification, mapping and early warning. The much-needed upscaling of investments in economic, social and ecological resilience to drought needs to focus on nature-based solutions and holistic ecosystem restoration approaches.

The most recent UNCCD Conference of Parties at its fifteenth session UNCCD COP 15 decided to establish an Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) on Drought for the triennium 2022–2024, with the purpose of identifying and evaluating global policy instruments and regional policy frameworks and linking them to national plans to effectively manage drought under the Convention and supporting a shift from reactive to proactive drought management.

Mandate

1. to review and analyze all the reports which came out of the first working group on drought (in 2020-2022), as well as other relevant documents and COP  decisions related to drought.
2. to identify and evaluate all options, including, inter alia, global policy instruments and regional policy frameworks, and linking, where relevant, to national plans, as appropriate, to effectively manage drought under the Convention, including supporting a shift from reactive to proactive drought management.
3. to prepare justifications and outline possible elements, processes, institutional arrangements, and mechanisms for establishment for each policy option.
4. to present its findings and recommendations for consideration by the Parties at COP 16.

Composition

The IWG consists of 27 members: three representatives from each of the seven (regional) groups based on nominations by national governments (21 members), two observers from civil society organizations, two representatives from international organizations working on drought and two independent experts.