Like any tool, the impact and progress of the Convention needs to be measured to allow for better and swifter action and policy, and as such its reporting and review system has evolved down the years. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in its capacity as one of the implementing agencies for the Global Environment Facility (GEF), has supported the Convention in this process. In particular the Performance Review and Assessment of Implementation System (PRAIS) project developed an indicator-based reporting system a vital way of tracking progress in achieving the poverty reduction and environmental sustainability objectives of the Convention.

This document was prepared by UNEP-WCMC to inform the mid-term review of The Ten-Year Strategic Plan and Framework to Enhance the Implementation of the Convention for 2008-2018, which incorporates the new system of evidence and results-based management. The Parties to the UNCCD have also embarked on a process to further develop and adapt the review system on the basis of their experience, best practices and lessons learned. Of particular importance is the linking of national reporting to the alignment of National Action Programmes (NAPs) in light of the Ten-Year Strategy, similar to the current reviewing and updating of National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans under the Convention
Biological Diversity and the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020.