Other meetings & events

 World Water Week’s 2024 theme ‘Bridging borders: Water for a Peaceful and Sustainable Future’ focuses on water cooperation for peace and security. Join UNCCD and members of the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) for the following events highlighting the links between healthy lands, water security, and drought resilience: Monday 26 August 11:00-12:30 (GMT+2 hours): Water: A regional public good for peace in West AfricaLearning from decades of transboundary work in West Africa, the session will bring national, regional and international viewpoints on the role of water as catalyst for peace, resilient livelihoods, and development. The region counts 28 transboundary river basins covering 71% of its area, making water cooperation key for the future. With a focus on West Africa, the trend and projections of drought and desertification and the role of various actors to address drought proactively, across sectors and scales will be addressed. Tuesday 27 August 16:00-17:30 (GMT+2 hours): A Hydro-Extreme Serious Game: Managing Disasters and Conflicts.The Hydro Extreme Game highlights the complexity of taking consensual decisions towards integrated disaster management. Players will attempt to come up with the best mix of water management solutions to manage both droughts and floods based on tools of the UNCCD Drought Toolbox, Associated Programme of Flood Management (APFM), Integrated Drought Management Programme (IDMP) and the IWRM Toolbox. Wednesday 28 August 08:00-09:00 (GMT+2 hours): Early Warning, Local Action: Synergies, Strategies for Climate Shocks. Rising climate shocks demand action. Across diverse regions, the session will analyze warning systems, actions taken, and how local adaptations fit specific contexts. Findings show that integrated approaches significantly outperform separate interventions. Furthermore, empowering communities through locally led adaptation ensures relevant and sustainable solutions.11:00-12:15 (GMT+2 hours), 7A Posthuset, Room 202 : Nature for Resilient Food, Land, and Water.15:00-17:30 (GMT+2 hours): Presentations on the upcoming Drought Resilience +10 Conference (30 September – 2 October. Geneva, Switzerland) with WMO, UNCCD, and GWP representatives Thursday 29 August 11:40-12:40 (GMT+2 hours): Live studio talk show: Elevating Drought resilience beyond borders and sectors.This session examines cross border collaborative approaches to addressing drought proactively at all levels. Notably, by bringing together early warning, prevention, and response, and by building drought resilience. The discussion will be informed by joint activities of the convening organizations including UNCCD, United Nations University and The Nature Conservancy. Check the full programme and the details on the sessions above here.

UNCCD and UNDP are organizing a three-day workshop with the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program (CAREC) and international experts, donors, government officials and development agencies to discuss joint work under the Peace Forest Initiative in the region of Central Asia.

Desertification and land degradation represent a major challenge for the global sporting community. Sports pitches are directly affected by these phenomena. Drought and extreme temperatures make playing surfaces harder and more brittle, increasing the risk of injury for athletes. In addition, frequent heatwaves mean sporting events must be rescheduled, disrupting athletes' preparation and performance. To address these issues, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is organizing a ‘Desertification Day’ on 31 July 2024 at the Africa Station of the Olympic Games on Ile-Saint-Denis. The aim of the event is to raise awareness and get the sporting community involved in land issues ahead of UNCCD COP16, the UN's biggest conference on land issues, in December 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The event organized by the UN Coalition on Sand and Dust Storms (SDS) aims to raise awareness of the importance of combating SDS for human health and well-being, promote sustainable land and water management, enhancing food security and resilience to climate change and sustainable livelihoods. The event will highlight the progress in combating the sources and adverse impacts of SDS through the work that is being undertaken by the coalition members on adaptation and mitigation, forecasting and early warning, health and safety, policy and governance, mediation and regional collaboration. Participants will have the opportunity to share expertise and good practices in combating SDS. From 13:00 to 15:00 CEST. Registration link: https://fao.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJEpfumhqjIqHNA6d6fXC1HPuWumnRwXNjEv#/registration

UNCCD, in Collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat hosted a high-level technical roundtable "Enhancing Climate Resilience: Integrating SLM and Index Insurance" on 25 June 2024.