UNITED NATIONS

JOURNAL

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

1–5 December 2025
Panama City, Panama
UNCCD
Monday, 1 December 2025
Content last updated on: 3 Dec 2025 21:12 CET

Programme of Meetings and Agenda

Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention

10:00–10:30
America 1

CRIC 23 Opening Ceremony

10:30–13:30
America 1

CRIC 1st meeting

  1. Opening of the twenty-third session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention

     

    Opening remarks by the Chair of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention, Philippine Dutailly (France)

    Statement 

    Statement by His Excellency, Dr. Osama Ibrahim Faqeeha, Deputy Minister of Environment, Water and Agriculture of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

     

    Statement by His Excellency Mr. Batmunkh Dondovdorj, Chairman of the Office and Executive Secretary of the COP17 National Committee of Mongolia

    Statement

    Statement by the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification 

    Statement

    Statement by His Excellency, Mr. Juan Carlos Navarro, the Minister of Environment of Panama

    Statement

    Statements by the representatives of the Regional Implementation Annexes

    Annex IV Opening Statement

    Annex V Opening Statement

    Statements by regional and interest groups 

    African Group Opening Statement

    Asia Pacific Group Opening Statement

    GRULAC Opening Statement

    European Union Opening Statement

    Interregional Group CA-Russia Opening Statement 

    PSIDS Opening Statement 

    Statements by the representatives of the United Nations and its specialized agencies

    FAO Opening Statement

    Statement by the representative of civil society

    Civil Society Opening Statement

  2. Organizational matters (ICCD/CRIC(23)/1) [Item 1]

     

    (a) Adoption of the agenda and organization of work


    (b) Appointment of the rapporteur of the Committee 

     

  3. Consideration of priorities for science–policy guidance (ICCD/CRIC(23)/7) [Item 5]

     

    Interactive dialogue

15:00–18:00
America 1

CRIC 2nd meeting

  1. Effective implementation of the Convention at national, subregional and regional levels [Item 2]


    (c) Development and promotion of activities for targeted capacity-building to further the implementation of the Convention (ICCD/CRIC(23)/6) 

     

    Introduction of the document 
    General discussion

Contact groups

18:00–20:00
ISTMO 2

Contact Group

(closed meeting)

Other meetings

The designations employed do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
08:00–10:00
CARIBE 3

RGDRP Steering Committee Meeting

(closed meeting)
08:30–10:00
CARIBE 5

CSO Consultation

(closed meeting)
12:15–13:00
PACIFICO 3

CRIC23 Opening Press Conference

13:00–15:00
PACIFICO 4

Group of Arab States Coordination Meeting

(closed meeting)
13:00–15:00
America 3.B

IWG-FSF

Meetings will be held on 1st, 2nd and 3rd December. The purpose is to gather input and promote discussions among stakeholders of the Convention. It is an open meeting, and all interested Parties and stakeholders are welcome to join. 

Side events

The information below is reproduced as received and does not imply any opinion or endorsement by the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.
13:15–14:45
CARIBE 3

24- (FAO) UNCCD – FAO Initiative on Land Tenure for Land Restoration

13:15–14:45
CARIBE 5

32- (WOCAT-CDE) Innovations for UNCCD Reporting 2026: Highlights from the SDG 15.3.1 Good Practice Guidance Addendum

13:15–14:45
CARIBE 4

34- (FAO) Bridging the Implementation Gap: Policy Alignment for Effective Drought Management

13:15–14:45
CARIBE 7

52- (​​International Livestock Research Institute​) Sustainable Livestock Systems: What Role for Private Sector?

18:15–19:45
CARIBE 3

18- (Luxembourg) Blended Finance for Drought Resilience: Introducing DRIF

18:15–19:45
CARIBE 7

29-(GWP) Money Meets Resilience: Innovative Investment Pathways for Drought Action

18:15–19:45
CARIBE 4

3- (IUCN) Scaling Integrated Approaches for Drylands and Rangeland Resilience

18:15–19:45
CARIBE 5

41- (Future Leaders Network) Youth Engagement in Action

Forthcoming official meetings
Tuesday, 2 December 2025

Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention

10:00–13:00
America 1

CRIC 3rd meeting

  1. Improving the procedures for communication of information as well as the quality and formats of reports to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties (ICCD/CRIC(23)/2) [Item 3] 

     

    Interactive dialogue

15:00–18:00
America 1

CRIC 4th meeting

  1. Improving the procedures for communication of information as well as the quality and formats of reports to be submitted to the Conference of the Parties (continued) (ICCD/CRIC(23)/2) [Item 3]

     

    Interactive dialogue

     

  2. Effective implementation of the Convention at national, subregional and regional levels (continued) [Item 2] 
     

    (a) Policy frameworks and thematic topics; sand and dust storms (ICCD/CRIC(23)/3)

     

    Introduction of the document 
    General discussion

     

Announcements

Invitation by the Host Country to the opening ceremony

Delegates are kindly invited to attend the opening ceremony organized by the host country on 1 December as of 10 am in the Plenary Hall (America 1). The official opening of the CRIC 23 session will follow immediately after.

Registration for CRIC 23

Registration

  • Country Parties to the Convention, United Nations Secretariat units and bodies, specialized agencies and related organizations, Intergovernmental Organizations (IGO) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) admitted as observers by the COP, Side Event Participants and Media may register to attend the sessions of UNCCD. The registration link for CRIC23 can be found here.
  • In order to facilitate verification of requests for registration at the conference, all participants are required to upload a copy of their national passport and an official nomination letter confirming their capacity to attend the session.
  • Participants are also required to upload a standard passport photo to accelerate on-site registration and badge collection.
  • Please be reminded that multiple registrations for the conference are not permitted (e. g. registration as a Country Party and/or an observer organization and/or media representative). Only one registration with the corresponding conference badge can be issued to an individual at any given time.

Conference badge collection

  • Conference badge is only issued to duly registered and approved participants.
  • Upon first arrival to the venue, participants are requested to proceed to the registration desk and present their passport (or nationally approved photo identification card) and their pre-registration QR code (printed or electronic), for badge issuance.
  • Participants with valid conference badges can directly access the venue through the security and badge control, where their badges will be scanned. There is no need to stop by the registration desk unless there are any registration or badge issues.
  • Participants are requested to the wear their issued conference badges at all times in order to gain access to the conference centre.
  • Kindly be aware that misuse of conference badge at all UNCCD conferences is prohibited and may lead to permanent suspension of your registration.

Registration desk opening hours

  • Friday 5 December from 8:00 to 2:00 p.m.

Electronic Information Service

Delegations are advised that wireless internet access is available throughout the venue. The network name is UNCCD-Public, and the password is: unccd1706.
 

A Computer Center is located in first floor of Panama Convention Centre, providing 20 workstations and printing facilities. An ICT Helpdesk counter is also available in the same area to assist with technical support.
 

A link to the stream of the meetings of the CRIC 23 session can be found on https://www.cric23.org/ and on the UNCCD website.

Meeting Rooms for Regional and Interest Groups

Requests for inclusion in the schedule of meetings of regional and interest groups should be communicated to:

Kayhan UI (kul [at] unccd.int (kul[at]unccd[dot]int)) or Mahamadou Tari Bako (mbako [at] unccd.int (mbako[at]unccd[dot]int)).

The UNCCD Conference App

The UNCCD Conference App is an easy tool for participants of official UNCCD events to have access to the latest conference schedules, all official documents and other relevant information related to the UNCCD process and conference logistics. It also provides information on the latest up-to-date schedule of events.

It is relevant for all delegates and other participants of all sessions of the UNCCD Conference of Parties (COP), the Committee of Science and Technology (CST) and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC). 

 

UNCCD Conference App