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At just 20 years old, Kehkashan is already a global influencer, environmentalist, TEDx Speaker, social enterprise innovator and author. In 2012, she founded the Green Hope Foundation to provide a platform for engagement and empowerment of children and youth, especially those representing vulnerable groups, and turn them into changemakers who address the sustainability issues at a local level. Today, the foundation has 2060 members in 16 countries  across Middle East, India, Brazil, USA, Canada, Europe and South East Asia. Empowering young people is Kehkashan's passion, and she spends a lot of time personally training and guiding many of them through workshops on mangrove conservation and tree planting. Kehkashan is a tireless civil society advocate for the Sustainable Development Goals and holds leadership positions in several organizations.  During the COVID-19 pandemic, Kehkashan continues her advocacy work through webinars and the #WomenImpactingTheWorld series. You can find her on: Facebook: @greenhopeyouth.greenhopefoundation  Twitter: @KehkashanBasu / @GreenHopeYouth Instagram: @kehkashan5basu / @greenhopefoundation

Patricia Kombo is a young social entrepreneur and a climate activist from Kenya. She studied journalism at Moi University and is known for her tree planting activities, especially her nonprofit PaTree Initiative that planted over 10,000 trees as of 2020. She is actively engaging school students in tree planting and nature conservation and strongly believes in educating them on the benefits of sustainable living. During the COVID-19 lockdown, Patricia raised 10 000 saplings from indigenous seeds in her nursery. Working with her community, she set up kitchen gardens and gave trainings on sustainable farming and land conservation to help achieve zero hunger, eliminate poverty and promote gender equality. Find Patricia on: Facebook: @patreeinitiative Twitter: @patriciakombo  Instagram: @pattykomboh

Madam President, Dear Bureau members, It is, as ever, a pleasure to speak to you and work with you, regardless of the distance the pandemic has forced upon us. I hope that everyone is holding up during what has been a long and wearying period for us all. I commend your continued commitment to our Convention. Your dedication remains essential, as UNCCD is growing ever more and as land is part of the solution in these times of great turmoil. If we fulfill our mandate to protect, manage, and restore the land, the benefits will be immense towards building a resilient and inclusive post-pandemic world. We will accelerate recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis. Reduce the risk of future pandemics. Slow climate change and protect biodiversity. Free millions of people from poverty and hunger. Help to create a world of peace, prosperity, and equity. Madam President, More than ever before, we need solidarity, hope but also tough political choices and innovative policy action to see this crisis through together.  Allow me to give a brief update of our activities so far before addressing today’s agenda. Regarding the Secretariat and Global Mechanism, I am pleased to report that our staff and families are doing well overall. In unison with the rest of the UN in Bonn, I have continued to take all precautionary measures that are intended to protect the safety, health, and well-being of UNCCD staff with regard to COVID19. This has been a top priority for me and the management team. I have been inspired by how our work has continued uninterrupted, enabling the Convention to continue to play an active global role. I am thankful to my staff for their enduring dedication. Our work in 2020 and 2021 is not, in any form, on hold.  We now have a strong Management Team which I am very proud of, with more women into leadership positions. I am proud that we achieved gender parity in just one year, with 54% women as senior leaders. Overall, women now represent 57% of the UNCCD labor force. Together with the management team, we have created a consensus around simplification, decentralization, and flexibility to be more nimble, efficient, and effective by adopting for the first time in the Secretariat’s history a Delegation of Authority policy. At global level, never has the need for land restoration been more crucial. In the midst of the pandemic, a window of hope and opportunity has opened for our Parties: a chance to recover better. The UNCCD Secretariat has focused its attention on key strategic partnerships. At our last Bureau meeting, I informed you about the G20 Global Initiative on Land. We are in advanced discussions with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on the funding agreement and we will soon set up the Initiative Coordination Office. Italy which holds the G20 Presidency this year, is also very much interested in Sustainable Land Management. I would like to use this opportunity to thank G20 countries who are also members of the Bureau for their instrumental support. On January 11, at the One Planet Summit organized in Paris, the Africa’s Great Green Wall received a major boost from donors and partners. For the first time ever, there was a clear recognition that land restoration can have multiple positive impacts. To the ecology, to society, to the economy. Close to USD 17 billion have now been pledged. The UNCCD has been requested to provide technical support to provide enabling conditions for an accelerated implementation on the ground. Madam President, Covid-19 has not postponed the need for Parties to accelerate work towards fulfilling commitments they have already made. We understand the Indian Government is completing the process for the implementation of Prime Minister Modi’s vision shared at COP14 in New Delhi, to restore 26M ha of land by 2030. Furthermore, you may have noted the recent announcement by Prince Mohamed Ben Salman of Saudi Arabia about a national and a regional initiative to restore 240 M ha of degraded land across the Kingdom and the Middle East region. We are in contact with Saudi Arabia to better understand their plans and provide as much support as we can. The implementation of the Land Degradation Neutrality is ongoing in 104 out of the 127 countries that submitted their national commitments.  The Global Mechanism is developing a new business model to cope with the growing and complex demands from Parties. Madam President, Land restoration is clearly gaining momentum. Itis low-tech and a cheap solution to climate from the perspective of carbon sequestration. We will need to continue to make the case, and convince major players, notably from the private sector for a more sustainable production. Of particular importance are the producers of food, feed, and fiber. We also need to see major improvements on the consumption side. One imminent opportunity we have is the High-Level Dialogue at the UN General Assembly on Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought which is scheduled to take place on 20 May. The President of the UN General Assembly is fully committed to working with all Members States, at the highest level, in order to make this event a success, with a lasting legacy. We need your full support to make this Dialogue a successful one. On 17 June, the world will celebrate the Desertification and Drought Day, with Costa Rica as the global host. The theme focuses on the contribution of Land Restoration to the Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery. I am very pleased with the positive response we have received so far both from the public and the private sectors. At our next Bureau meeting, I intend to inform you about great progress being made in improving the reporting tools, including through the establishment of a geo-spatial platform. There are also important development shaping up in other sectors, such as the Science Policy Interface as well as Capacity Building and Innovation. Our staff have been very busy and creative, despite the lockdown. But in the interest of time, I will have to come back to these on another occasion. Madame President, Covid-19 has revealed the world’s vulnerabilities, many of which intersect with the land crisis. At the same time, it has highlighted the importance of expertise and science, cooperation, information and solidarity. And it has also, in many cases, demonstrated that land is part of the solution and can help steer the recovery towards a safer, more sustainable, and inclusive path. We stand ready to continue supporting Parties, now and beyond COVID-19. This brings me to today’s agenda. We will discuss the date and place of COP15, a key decision for the Convention. You will also hear a report by the Chair of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC). I would like to take this opportunity to warmly welcome Mr. Andrew Bishop. Mr. Bishop is not new to the UNCCD process as he served as Guyana’s national focal point in the past. Finally, you will hear a report by the Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST). Madame President, Parties had requested us to organize COP15 in Bonn, or another venue, in autumn of this year. Considering the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP15 in 2021 may no longer possible. The pandemic has disrupted our plans. You have in front of view, under agenda item II, a note on the status of preparations for COP15 to inform your decision on the best course of action for a successful COP, moving forward. The note includes options for rescheduling COP15. Rescheduling will ensure all Parties can focus on the issues to be discussed at this key conference and allow more time for the necessary preparations to take place, taking into account safety and security. We will continue to work with all of you and hope to be able to get your views and guidance on: The postponement of COP15 to 2022 The organization of an online process for Parties to decide on an interim budget for 2022 Your decision today will help us engage further our host country with regard the rescheduling of COP15 in 2022. This, of course, does not exclude the possibility of a third party expressing interest to preside or host COP15, regardless of your decision on the date of the COP. We know that many countries are already in the process of developing their Post-Pandemic recovery plans. It would be strategic for our Conference of the Parties to be held on time, to actively contribute to policy making and guide pro-land investments and policies. The Second Edition of the Global Land Outlook is designed to serve as a good reference in that respect. On CRIC19, while I will leave the details to our able Chair, let me just say how pleased I was with the outcomes. The meeting confirmed that the work we do under this Convention is essential to protecting, managing, and restoring healthy land. And that we can only fulfill the land’s full potential if we do it together. Thanks again to all of you, a total of 138 Parties, 9 UN agencies, 15 Intergovernmental Organizations, and 63 civil society organizations took part in the debates, over a course of five days. Regarding the report by the CST Chair, there are a lot of important activities and updates that the Chair will be presenting. It is always heartening to see collaboration, both internal and external. And this struck me as a key positive note of the report. As I said earlier, we must all seek to reach beyond the confines of our Convention to engage every ministry, business, investor, UN agency and process that impacts on the land. So, the CST coordination with the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, the Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change is most welcome and much appreciated. Madame President, The Secretariat is very much looking forward to a successful and productive meeting. Thank you.

A statement by UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw: After a year in which COVID-19 has swept the world, killing almost three million people – so far – and devastating the global economy, today’s World Health Day is a moment to reflect. This year’s theme of "Building a fairer, healthier world for everyone" seeks to build a better world for us all. The UNCCD believes land based solutions can offset the health, social and economic impacts of COVID-19 to foster healthy ecosystems and support healthy people. There’s an urgent need – right now – to restore damaged ecosystems to help us build back better. That’s why the UN’s Decade on Ecosystem Restoration will be launched in two months, on World Environment Day. Yet as populations continue to grow, so does demand on land. Up to 70 per cent of emerging infectious diseases and most recent epidemics originate from animals, crossing over when land use change modifies natural habitats, increasing close interactions between wildlife and humans. Every year, around one billion people become ill as a result of zoonoses, and millions die, mostly the vulnerable in low-income countries. Already this century, zoonotic diseases have caused global economic losses of over 100 billion USD. Zoonotic diseases are not the only health crisis we face. In a warming world, extreme events like sand and dust storms are more common, more intense, and more prolonged. Last month the worst dust storms in decades hit Mongolia and northern China – reducing air quality and causing long term impacts on human health. Driven by climate change and land degradation, air pollution is a "hidden pandemic," killing almost nine million people a year – three times the COVID-19 toll. Land degradation neutrality is crucial to help reduce the likelihood, impact and extent of future pandemics, and to pave the way to the recovery of lost resilience in our global systems. Protecting, restoring and buffering natural ecosystems is vital to building back better and to reducing the risks of novel infectious diseases emerging again. In the Sahel, the Great Green Wall Initiative is an ambitious African programme with the aim to bring back to health 100 millions of hectares of degraded land across 11 countries from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea, delivering nature-based solutions to multiple challenges at epic scale to provide jobs and economic opportunities for millions and transform an entire region. Guided by our goal of healthy land, the UNCCD strives for a fairer, healthier world for everyone. Our motto “healthy land; healthy people” is truer today than ever. Read more: Role of land in COVID-19 response

Senegalese singer and UNCCD Land Ambassador Baaba Maal believes that the future of Africa is in the hands of the youth. He is actively supporting the new narrative on the Sahel as the region of opportunities, rich in traditional culture and with a large potential for development in the management of natural resources as well as opportunities for youth, since close to two thirds of the population is under 35 years old. Through his concerts and social engagement, Baaba Maal uses the magic of his voice to bring people together and empower them to build a peaceful and prosperous future on land, harnessing the potential of the African traditions and new technologies. Read more: UNCCD Land Ambassadors Land and youth  

Remarks by UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw: Your Excellency Chairperson Ambassador Ammo Aziza Baroud, Excellencies Permanent Representatives, Ambassador Fatima Mohamed, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is indeed a real pleasure to address you today in my capacity as the Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, a Convention that Africa pushed for at the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro and which bears a special focus on Africa. My brief today will be focused on the impact of LAND DEGRADATION in Africa’s economic and social development. A continent whose economic growth over the last 25 years has been remarkably steady, though the impact of such growth has been somehow muted by a series of factors. Among them, the loss of productive land while the number of people to feed kept growing fast. It’s a complex equation: (i) the demand on Africa’s natural resources keeps growing, exacerbated by a steady demographic growth and by externalities such as trade and illicit activities. (ii) ecosystems and the services they provide are shrinking, due to desertification (land degradation), climate change and drought According to UNEP, the African continent has already lost more than 60% of its agricultural land since 1950. If we know that the population has been grown by more than 440% between 1950 and 2020, we have at least partial response to the equation. Here is the next parameter: according to the Economics of Land Degradation, the costs of land degradation are estimated at USD 127 B per year (almost twice as much as total ODA that flowed to Africa in 2019). Some countries in Africa have seen up to 95% of their land affected by desertification (Eswatini); 66% for Angola; 64% for Gabon…This is not specific to one sub-region, though the Sahel is arguably one of the most vulnerable region in the world where desertification is already having tragic consequences. Whether its Egypt or Algeria, Libya or Mauritania, no country is spared in the North Africa sub-region. The vulnerability comes from the fact that up to 94% of agriculture is dependent on few millimeters of rainfall, and few centimeters of topsoil. This explains why Africa’s economy is very dependent of droughts. Actually, no country in Africa is immune to drought. No country is well prepared. Years of droughts generally correspond to years of economic downturn. Years of sorrow and loss. Years of despair. Some experts estimate that two thirds of Africa’s arable land may be lost by 2025, if this trend continues. If I had more time, I would have spoken at length about the multiple consequences of Sand and Dust Storms, which affect our health and our economy. Sand Dust Storms affect the productivity of our land, the security of our navigation systems (hamper our air and marine traffic). And now, the pandemic. And the rate of extreme poverty and hunger has increased for the first time in 30 years. When you lose your only resource, your only source of income, what else is there to do? Indeed, when the productive land is degraded, jobs are lost; when cities are pushing people back to rural areas, when families have no other source of revenue, land and nature are the only safe heaven there is. Nature is the GDP of the poor.  As your Governments engage onto rebuilding affected economies, I see the COVID-19 crisis as a wake-up call and the recovery from the pandemic as an opportunity. This brings me to my main message: Land restoration needs to be at the center of all our post-COVID recovery efforts. For Africa perhaps more than in other regions of the world, land restoration and sustainable land management are among the best long-term responses to the pandemic. Let me come to the good news: land restoration provides multiple solutions: Land degradation is reversible. And it can be as cheap as a couple of hundred dollars per ha Transforming degraded land and turning it back to production Land restoration creates green jobs. It is a labor-intensive activity Targeting rural women and youth: reduce vulnerabilities and forced migration, creating economic opportunities Land restoration: combatting climate change and reducing biodiversity loss When asked: since Africa only contributes to 7.1% of the total emissions, what could be its best contribution to the Paris Agreement? Say Land restoration. By turning one stone through land restoration, you achieve both mitigation and adaptation. Land restoration puts carbon back in the soil where it belongs: the land-use sector, through a combination of conservation, sustainable management, and restoration, has great potential to reduce emissions and sequester carbon.  Land represents our largest sink for carbon. When asked what could be the best contribution of Africa to the Biodiversity Loss? Say Sustainable Land Management. When asked how best can Africa mitigate the impact of Drought? Say Landscape Approach. Resilience building; or perhaps early warning and management. Science tells us that investing in large-scale land restoration to combat desertification, soil erosion and loss of agricultural production is a win-win solution. It is a win for the environment. It is a win for the economy, and for the livelihoods of local communities. In this respect, I have good news for you.  The current total of all restoration commitments by countries is close to 1 billion hectares, half of which are in Africa. This is a huge commitment from a continent that has always played its role in multilateral processes. On the other hand, Africa is choking to an unbearable  debt. In our opinion, options to manage this economic crisis should include debt swaps. Debt for Large-scale Land Restoration would be an elegant win-win option. A relief to national economies and a response to global challenges including climate, desertification and biodiversity. Excellencies, Let me appraise you of some recent developments happening in the life of this Convention with a strong support never seen before, documenting, again, the momentum on land restoration. First, at the G20 recent summit, under the Saudi Presidency, a milestone decision was taken. At that Summit, G20 leaders launched “the Global Initiative on Reducing Land Degradation and Enhancing Conservation of Terrestrial Habitats” to prevent, halt, and reverse land degradation.  Building on existing initiatives, leaders share the ambition to achieve a 50 percent reduction in degraded land by 2040. In their communiqué, the G20 Ministers of Environment underscored that land restoration and the avoidance of habitat loss are often cost-effective solutions to addressing the biodiversity crisis and other key environmental challenges.  Consultations with Italy, current Chair of the G20, are ongoing to maintain this crucial momentum on land restoration. Second, at the One Planet Summit held in Paris on 11 January 2021, the Great Green Wall of the Sahel received a major boost. President Macron of France played a key role, which we truly appreciate. The Great Green Wall received major financial support, with close to USD 17 billion committed by financial institutions, global funds, and donors. Third: just this past weekend, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia announced major restoration initiatives: one national and one covering the GCC countries. A new commitment covering 240 million hectares, to be restored to slow down desertification, biodiversity loss and climate change. We feel that time for large-scale restoration has come. Land Restoration is a low-tech and cheap technology. A solution to multiple crisis the world is faced with. We are aware and support the ongoing initiative in the SADC region. We hope that other sub-regions will mobilize their political leaders and experts to develop their own regional or national initiatives. Allow me to finish with the UNGA High Level Dialogue due for May 20. You may have received the invitation from the PGA for a HLD on DLDD. I know many African Missions to New York are members of the GoF on DLDD. A Group that is actually co-chaired by the proud African Nation of Namibia. I would urge your respective governments to: Make the African voices heard at the upcoming High-level dialogue on desertification, land degradation and drought that the President of the General Assembly will convene on 20 May 2021. Encourage the participation of African Heads of State and Heads of Governments by pre-recorded videos to be played in the Plenary Hall during the High-level debate; Support the prospect of establishing a like-minded group which could be called “Coalition on the Stewardship of Land”, a sort of political platform that aims to mobilize political leaders, corporations, and other non-state actors in support of land restoration. Thank you.