Desertification, soil erosion and drought are increasingly menacing a large part of the world. Today, it affects 110 countries in Europe, Africa, Australia and North and South America, and threatens the livelihoods of more than 1.2 billion people. Most of these affected are among the poorest in the world and depend largely on small-scale agriculture for their subsistence.

The risks of desertification are substantial, especially under the present scenarios of global climate change and loss of ecosystem services. The challenges posed by desertification have also major socio-economic and environmental consequences. In poor countries, desertification not only undermines the land's fertility but also leads to food insecurity, social, economic and political tensions.

This conference has convened at a time when parties to the UNCCD have stressed the need for strategic guidance and targets, in order to foster the implementation of the Convention. An international working group has been established to provide the Convention with a strategy to foster implementation for the next ten years.

The conference has been organised by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) together with the Secretariat of the Convention and the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Brussels. The conference is relevant in the sense that it also marks the period of the German EU Presidency.