Stories

Guiyang, China – Mr. Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary, on behalf of UNCCD, and Mr. Xu Qinglin, on behalf of Ningxia Forestry and Grassland Administration of China, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of the International Knowledge Management Center on February 26, 2019.  Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, UNCCD Executive Secretary, described the MoU as a very important step toward stronger cooperation between the UNCCD and China to enhance knowledge management as well as build capacity of national institutions and experience sharing among parties.  Thiaw referred to the new satellite data released by NASA showing a planet greener than it was 20 years ago, thanks in large part to the massive tree planting and sustainable agricultural practices being followed in China and India.  The event took place in the sidelines of the UNCCD COP13 Bureau meeting, held in Guiyang, China. The COP13 Bureau discussed, among others, the outcomes of the CRIC17 meeting recently held in Guyana, and the activities of the Committee on Science and Technology, including preparations for the upcoming CST14. The Bureau further addressed the draft agenda for the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP14) to take place in October 2019 in New Delhi, India; and the details of the midterm evaluation of the UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework and the status of the study to evaluate the potential of the Convention to address desertification, as a driver of irregular migration.

Bonn, Germany – UNCCD has joined other UNBonn organizations on 8 March 2019 to celebrate the International Women's Day. This year’s celebration puts innovation by women and girls, for women and girls, at the heart of efforts to remove barriers to gender equality, accelerate progress for women’s empowerment and improve social protection systems. Addressing the meeting on UN campus, Dr. Heike Kuhn of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development presented on-the-ground projects that enable women's empowerment, such as WeCode programming school for women in Uganda. During the follow-up discussions, participants agreed that providing women with access to digital learning is essential for giving them much-needed options to acquire new knowledge and skills without leaving their jobs, families and communities. In his recent op-ed on the occasion of the International Women's Day, the UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw highlighted that science and technology can offer rural women new opportunities to tackle the daily challenges, reduce their workload, raise food production and participate more in the paid labour market. However, the real progress can only be achieved by creating an enabling environment to access these options through secure land rights, financing and education. Learn more: Actions around the world UNCCD Gender Action Plan Land and gender

The First UNCCD Capacity Building Training Fair was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC) in Georgetown, Guyana. The Training Fair was specifically designed to address the main issues that the UNCCD focuses on, and to strengthen the capacities of the Parties so that they can undertake actions to tackle these challenges. One of the main objectives of this first Fair was to help decision-makers and UNCCD stakeholders increase their capacities both individually and institutionally. The Training Fair ran for two days, 25th and 26th of January 2019, and covered four main areas namely, Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), Drought, issues of Gender and Stand and Dust Storms (SDS). It began with an opening session chaired by the coordinator of the event, UNCCD’s Capacity Building Officer Dr. Richard A. Byron-Cox. Participants were welcomed by Mr. Trevor L. Benn, Guyana’s Commissioner of Lands and UNCCD National Focal Point, and heard a brief address from UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary, Mr. Pradeep Monga. The fair was declared officially opened by Honourable Rupert Roopnarine, Minster with responsibility for Public Service of Guyana.

As the UN Convention to Combat Desertification celebrates its 25th year, the 2019 Land for Life Award will be dedicated to “Decades of Impact”. We will recognize efforts that are contributing to land degradation neutrality on a large-scale, with long-term changes and dedicated actions for 25 years or longer and remarkable positive impacts on land, people, communities, and society as a whole. Deadline for nominations is 30 March 2019. More about the selection and nomination process...

The governments of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger are among the 44 countries that have already committed to develop their national drought plans in the framework of the new UNCCD Drought Initiative. The UNCCD secretariat, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Global Water Partnership (GWP) are all part of the framework for collaboration to support this UNCCD initiative on drought management. This includes technical and programmatic support along with knowledge-sharing. The first stage of the project included technical consultation meetings on the draft national drought plans that took place in Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger  at the end of last year. Each plan will specify the process for dealing with drought and drought-related activities, such as early warning and forecasting, definition of trigger reporting levels, impact analyses, response recommendations and mitigation measures. In the event of a drought emergency, the plan will identify ways to mitigate the effects of disaster. Read more... Read more: Land and drought The Drought Initiative

Dear colleagues, On the occasion of the UNCCD 25th anniversary and within the implementation of its Gender Action Plan, the UNCCD secretariat is launching a campaign during the month of March to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls.  Every day in the first half of March, we would like to publish stories that portray the work of your organization in empowering women and girls, particularly as described in the GAP. We would highly appreciate if you could share with us one or more of the following before 28 February: An image of the person or family empowered with a quote (140 characters)  An image with a short story (about 350 words)  A one-minute (60 seconds) video clip highlighting the featured person's work and achievements The best contributions will also be used as material for the campaign around the meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women and for the celebrations of the World Day to Combat Desertification on 17 June. You are welcome to send us good stories that you have published in your publications, but please make sure you provide proper referencing (the source of the story). Articles for publication will be selected as they arrive. We are looking for stories that are relevant and heroic. Here is a video on how to write a hero story. Please send us your material by email to cso@unccd.int  Thank you for your commitment to the UNCCD!