News & stories

Bolgatanga, Ghana – Entrepreneurs and policy makers from Ghana, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali and Niger came together on 15-16 April to explore the potential of creating new markets for crops grown in the Sahel. The workshop, organized by UNCCD together with a social enterprise Aduna and a local NGO ORGIIS, invited the participants to share views on the potential of growing and exporting dryland crops such as moringa and fonio for creating new jobs in the region. SEED, MBC Africa, Ecocert, SINERGI and Tree Aid also contributed to the workshop, providing information on organic certification, opportunities for landscape restoration in supply chains, financing and support for entrepreneurs. “Now we know who to ask for support as a start up," said Aziz Kasim from Moringa Connect in Ghana. Workshop participants also visited the Aduna and ORGIIS baobab-processing center and met with representatives of women’s cooperatives who harvest and process baobab fruit. The outcomes of the training session in Northern Ghana will help develop a Great Green Entrepreneurs training kit that can be used throughout the Sahel region. Funding for the workshop was provided through the Local Environmental Coalition for a Green Union project (FLEUVE) financed by the European Commission and the Soil Leadership Academy to support the Great Green Wall Initiative. Read more: The Great Green Wall Initiative

Bouznika, Morocco – The UNCCD Regional Coordination Unit for Africa is taking part in the OSS (L'Observatoire du Sahara et du Sahel) board meeting to review and take decisions on the financial and activity report for the 2018 work plan as well as adopt the proposals for the current year. OSS is an intergovernmental organization that supports African countries in monitoring land degradation and facilitating the development and implementation of projects related to desertification, land degradation and drought. OSS, created in the context of the Rio process in 1992, brings together member states from Africa and developed countries. The organization is based in Tunis, Tunisia.

Santiago, Chile – The annual Forum of the Countries of Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) on Sustainable Development opened on April 24 at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). More than a thousand people, including representatives of government, international institutions, the private sector, academia and civil society, will review the progress and challenges regarding implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in the region. During the meeting, ECLAC will present the quadrennial report on regional progress and challenges in implementing 2030 Agenda, prepared in collaboration with UN agencies including UNCCD.  “This Forum will also allow the region to speak with one voice, its own voice, in the global debate on implementation of the Agenda 2030, which is a civilizing and transformative agenda that the world has set for 2030. That voice, your voice, expresses shared motivations and concerns, without denying regional diversity, and it is capable of incorporating distinct views. For all these reasons, we invite you to take an active part in this regional gathering,” said ECLAC’s Executive Secretary Alicia Bárcena. The Forum was launched in May 2016 in Mexico City as a regional mechanism for implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Agenda, adopted in 2015 by the 193 countries represented in the UN  General Assembly, encompasses 17 goals and 169 related targets in diverse areas of development.  Read more: About the Forum Land and SDGs  

Marrakech, Morocco – The "Sustainability, Stability and Security" (3S) Initiative was presented at the Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development in Marrakech on 18 April 2019. The Initiative was highlighted as an example of good practice in south-south cooperation to leverage the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the SDGs during the event organized by the Centre de Competence Changement Climatique and the Secretariat of State on Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Morocco with support from UNDP.  Addressing the audience, the representatives of Burkina Faso, Central African Republic and Niger reiterated their firm commitment to the implementation of the 3S Initiative in their countries. The Initiative is an inter-governmental action to provide alternatives to forced migration and radicalization by creating jobs for young people, women and migrants through the restoration of degraded lands. It aims to contribute to environmental and climate change action as well as prevent radicalization in both transit and origin countries, minimizing forced migration caused by environmental factors. Read more: 3S Initiative Land and human security Africa Regional Forum on Sustainable Development 2019

Santiago, Chile – The UNCCD coordinator for Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Mr. Jose Miguel Torrico met with India's Ambassador in Chile Ms. Anita Nayar on 16 April to discuss the upcoming UNCCD COP14 that will take place in New Delhi from 2 to 13 September 2019. The meeting focused on the following proposed strategic topics that the conference will address::  Land, climate and renewable energy Rural and urban linkages in land management Faith and land stewardship Land and human health Sustainable value chains for land-based business The Ambassador Nayar offered to share key points of the discussion with other Indian delegations in LAC and the representatives of other countries in Chile to encourage their participation in COP14.  Read more: UNCCD COP14 UNCCD regional annexes

Songdo, Republic of Korea – UNCCD participated in the annual NAP Expo to explore the potential of pursuing climate change adaptation and land degradation by advancing national adaptation plans (NAPs). A panel discussion introducing LDN as well as project-level experiences from Peru, Kenya, Georgia and Argentina along with a donor perspective of Korea, was followed by interactive exercises that explored the challenges of pursuing climate change adaptation and LDN through the same project. One of the guiding principles of LDN is that planning and implementation should be incorporated into existing processes, promoting consideration of vulnerable ecosystems. As countries are still in the early stages of formulating their NAPs, there is plenty of opportunities to promote synergies between climate change adaptation and LDN. It is very likely that a climate change adaptation project with a focus on land or water will contribute to the achievement of LDN if it can help prevent negative land cover change, the loss of net primary productivity and the loss of soil organic carbon.  In practice, many climate change adaptation projects include interventions to limit or reverse land degradation, but they are not necessarily reported under LDN. The largest barrier identified by the participants seemed to be institutional and can be readily resolved: ensuring that all three Rio Conventions and their funding mechanisms actively promote integrated projects. Sponsors and national agencies need to actively encourage and reward integrated co-benefit approaches. The NAP Expo is an annual outreach event organized by the Least Developed Countries Expert Group of the UNFCCC in collaboration with various bodies and organizations to promote exchange of experiences and foster partnerships between a wide range of actors and stakeholders on how to advance National Adaptation Plans (NAPs). Read more: About the session Achieving Land Degradation Neutrality LDN target-setting programme