Other meetings & events

To mark this year's Desertification and Drought Day, UNCCD,  EOTEC DevNet and GWP are organizing a webinar focused on showcasing collaborative approaches to tackling drought challenges and enhancing resilience in drought-affected regions. Join us at 13:00 UCT | 15:00 CEST via Zoom. Discussions will center on gender-specific challenges, inclusion strategies and cutting-edge tools such as Earth Observation technologies to meet the need for tailor-made approaches in drought response. The webinar, designed for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in environmental science, disaster risk management and sustainable development, will also serve as an invitation to join two global communities of practice that have been recently launched in the space of drought management: UNCCD Community of Learning and Practice - a peer-to-peer knowledge exchange network for professionals engaged in enhancing drought policy, planning, and management processes EOTEC DevNet Thematic Working Group on Drought - a community striving to enhance the accessibility and application of earth observation for drought management. Speakers: Milcah Ndegwa, UNCCD Associate Programme Officer   Daniel Tsegai, UNCCD Drought Programme Officer  Aarti Holla-Maini, Director of the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA)  Karen Elizabeth Bernard, UNCCD Gender Policy Officer  Lorena Aguilar Revelo, Executive Director of the Kaschak Institute for Social Justice for Women and Girls Richard R. Heim Jr., Meteorologist, NOAA/National Centers for Environmental Information   Sabina Bokal, Senior Programme Manager GWP Central and Eastern Europe 

The global observance of the Desertification and Drought Day 2024 was hosted by the Government of Germany on 17 June at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn.  The event also marked the 30th anniversary of UNCCD, bringing together leaders, youth and prominent personalities from the fields of politics, academia, civil society, the private sector and entertainment to showcase a strong ambition to be united for land, ahead of the largest-ever UN conference on land and drought – UNCCD COP 16 – that will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2024.  The global theme of this years' Desertification and Drought Day United for Land. Our Legacy. Our Future. emphasizes the transformative power of sustainable land management to address today’s global challenges and create a blueprint to a better future on land for all generations. The theme is a clarion call to a recharged global action on land restoration and drought resilience.  

The 3rd Dushanbe Water Action Decade Conference is the next in a series of conferences held every two years by the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan in cooperation with the United Nations to support the implementation of the goals of the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” 2018-2028. As part of the 3rd Dushanbe Water Action Decade Conference, the Government of the Republic of Tajikistan aims to provide a platform for following up, promoting and supporting the implementation of voluntary commitments registered in the Water Action Agenda of the UN 2023 Water Conference, as well as stimulating new partnerships and accelerating actions to achieve the goals of the Agenda in the field of sustainable development for the period 2030. For more info visit https://conf2024.dushanbewaterprocess.org

World Environment Day 2024 is focusing on land restoration, desertification and drought resilience. Hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Riyadh, where UNCCD COP16 will also take place later this year, it will demonstrate the country's strong commitment to delivering solution to today's environmental crises. Recharged global action to protect and restore productive land has the power to boost livelihoods, support food security, build resilience to extreme weather and increase carbon storage. 

The Conference of Parties at its fifteenth session (UNCCD COP 15) established an Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought  during the triennium 2022 - 2024, tasked with identifying and evaluating global policy instruments and regional policy frameworks in the context of the national plans to effectively manage drought under the Convention, including supporting a shift from reactive to proactive drought management. Leading up to UNCCD COP16, the group will hold its sixth and final meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 3-6 June 2024 to address the following topics: Financing mechanisms for drought resilience; Setting of global target and global work programme for drought resilience Legally binding protocol or Amendment to the Convention Non-legally binding decisions, political declaration, or other kind of non-legally binding instruments outside the Convention