Press releases
The ambitious Great Green Wall for the Sahel and Sahara Initiative has received at least 14.236 billion United States Dollars in new funding. The funding will fast track efforts to restore degrading land, save biological diversity as well as create green jobs and build resilience of the Sahelian people. Emmanuel Macron, President of France, made the announcement at the just concluded One Planet Summit for Biodiversity co-organized by France, the United Nations and World Bank.
Nominations for the 2021 Land for Life Award of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) opened today. The submission of nominees will close after two months, on 28 January 2021. The Award recognizes initiatives to halt, reduce and/or reverse land degradation that have had a positive impact on people and their land by using a holistic approach as well as practices that address both the environmental and social aspects of land management. Under the theme “Healthy Land, Healthy Lives,” the 2021 Award will spotlight changemakers doing innovative land restoration and conservation that is both promoting the well-being of communities and improving their relationship with nature. It will reflect land as part of the solution, as the communities around the world recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and build back better around a social contract for nature. Winners will be invited to present their projects and work at international forums, including the Kubuqi International Desertification Forum in China, where the Award Ceremony will take place in mid-2021, and at the Fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention at the end of 2021. These forums offer winners special access to potential new funding partners and stakeholders. Previous winners include World Vision (Australia), SEKEM (Egypt), Watershed Organization Trust (India) and Réseau MARP (Burkina Faso). By winning the prestigious award, some have expanded their projects, secured new partnerships or been recognized by other international and national awards. Mr. Tony Rinaudo, World Vision Australia, said “The Land for Life Award has played a significant role in lifting the profile of a relatively obscure intervention – Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) globally, giving it wider visibility and validating it as an effective tool in land and tree restoration. […] Today, FMNR is a normal part of the development lexicon when it comes to land restoration approaches and is considered a ‘best practice’ by many donors and development practitioners alike.” “So much has awareness grown that the flagship intervention being promoted by the Global Evergreening Alliance, a coalition of NGOs, conservation groups, research institutions and professionals – is FMNR. In the seven years since World Vision was granted the Land for Life Award, the practice of FMNR, and individuals promoting it, have gone onto win other nationally and internationally significant awards,” Mr Rinaudo said. ”In our quest to establish a new social contract for nature and ensure a healthier and safer future for all, we need to promote the connection between people and their environment, on the one hand, and focus on innovative approaches that involve communities, empower women and promote new technologies on the other. In these uncertain times where a growing number of infectious diseases is coming through land use change, we are searching for positive and inspiring models that are creating healthy lives by turning degrading land into healthy land,” says Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD. The Land for Life Award also has a special China Award that celebrates exceptional commitment to sustainable land management in China. Elion Foundation is the main sponsor of the Land for Life Programme, but leads the special China Award together with the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Provincial Governmental of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Notes to Editors For further information regarding the rules and criteria, visit the Land for Life Award webpage. Contact: Land for Life programme: L4L@unccd.int Additional Quotes from Previous Winners: Ms. Marcella D’Souza, WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS): "The L4L Award helped us connect and engage with the ELD Secretariat at the GIZ based out of Bonn, who we had met at Kubuqi. This resulted in a new project on Economic Valuation of regenerating degraded lands through Watershed Development, implemented by our research unit – the WOTR Centre for Resilience Studies (W-CReS). In addition, the Award and the exposure it provided us helped transition our watershed-focussed interventions to a more holistic ecosystems-based approach targeted at building adaptive capacities and resilience of rural communities to climate and non-climate risks. This led to another partnership and project with the ambition to develop a state level "Roadmap for Ecosystems-based Adaptation" which involves multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral engagement and collaboration across scales." Mr. Mathieu Ouédraogo, Réseau MARP: “Winning the Land for Life Award is certainly a great honor, but above all a major opportunity. This distinction led the communities we work with to be more thorough in the actions they carry out daily, focusing on tangible results. Quantitatively, we have doubled our objective in terms of achievements in the field, thanks to the worldwide recognition of our efforts.” Mr. Awadalla Hamid, Practical Action Sudan: “The award has definitely a great impact on the project and the life of the people of Darfur, as we managed to secure an additional fund for a second phase of the same project, 10M Euros from the European Union to support more families in Wadi ElKu project area, and to cover additional 180km along the Wadi ElKu Catchment in North Darfur.” About the UNCCD The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is an international agreement on good land stewardship. Through partnerships, the Convention’s 197 Parties set up robust systems to manage land degradation and drought promptly and effectively. Good land stewardship based on a sound policy and science helps integrate and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, builds resilience to climate change and prevents biodiversity loss. Land also plays a key role in the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, securing rural livelihoods and creating green jobs, supporting community resilience and maintaining the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services.
COMMUNIQUE DE PRESSE The humanitarian effects of environmental degradation, peace, and security. This debate took place on Wednesday, September 17, 2020 by videoconference, and was chaired by the Nigerien Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cooperation, African Integration and Nigeriens Abroad, H.E. Kalla Ankourao. The session was marked by the interventions of the President of the ICRC, Mr. Peter Maurer, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw, and the Earth Ambassador, Mrs. Inna Modja, representative of the civil society. Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw emphasized how competition over natural resources creates conditions for conflict. He also noted that as desertification progrsses, these resources are becoming increasingly limited. He also noted that environmental degradation increases people's grievances, undermines their livelihoods, and often makes young people more susceptible to recruitment by armed groups. He also called for addressing land degradation and desertification to prevent conflict. Niger's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, H.E. Kalla Ankourao, illustrated the humanita- rian effects of environmental degradation on peace and security. While expressing his compassion for the victims of the current floods in the Sahel in general and in Niger in particular, Minister Kalla Ankourao highlighted the humanitarian effects of climate change, which he described as a disaster and which seriously threatens the populations of the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin. Furthermore, the Minister, pointed to the close correlation between conflicts and climate change in the Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin, considered that respect for international humanitarian law, including the protection of the natural environment, was necessary and should be part of military training manuals and peacekeeping operations programs. The Ambassador of the Earth, artist, activist and daughter of the Sahel, Ms. Inna Modja, gave a testimony on the humanitarian impact of desertification and climate change on the Sahelian populations, particularly on rural women. She called for urgent solutions to be found to address the consequences of desertification and climate change and manage their impact on peace and security. It must be recalled the discussions on the nexus between climate change, peace and security has been the subject of attention by the United Nations Security Council since 2007 under the presidency of the United Kingdom.
Action around land use to slow climate change and biodiversity loss gets vital boost from Commonwealth and United Nations partners A virtual gathering has galvanized political backing amongst Commonwealth countries to tackle the key challenge of land degradation linked to climate change and biodiversity loss, which is impacting ecosystems across the globe and over half of the global population.Alongside the United Nations General Assembly meetings, ministers, high commissioners, officials and experts from across the Commonwealth met for a high-level event organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). With only months before 2021 – a crucial year marked by a series of global summits focused on the environment – the discussions paved the path for sustainable land management to feature as a top priority for enhanced climate action and living in harmony with nature. Delegates agreed to explore how Commonwealth member states can act jointly on the Rio Conventions, and forge a positive, action-based agenda around land use in the run-up to the United Nations Biodiversity Conference, CBD COP15 (May 2021), the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (June 2021), the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP26 (November 2021) and UNCCD COP15 in late 2021. At their summit next June, Commonwealth leaders are expected to adopt a ‘Living Lands Charter’, including a programme of action on climate change impacts on land. Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: “Without urgent action on how we use and steward our lands, we cannot hope to achieve the targets set out in the Paris Agreement on climate change. Given the impact of COVID-19 our countries have a narrow window of opportunity to establish a ‘new normal’ in the way we interact with our natural environment. Part of this must means a deliberate and systematic focus on a ‘green recovery’ that incorporates climate-smart practices in the way we grow our crops, raise livestock, and use our land resources.” UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw stated: “Youth make up 60% of the Commonwealth population. This is 1 out of 3 youth in the world. Policies that could enable them to jumpstart green land-based jobs such as agriculture, ecological restoration or in the supply chain hold promise for both building back better and living in harmony with nature. In addition, the proposed ‘Living Lands charter’ could drive momentum towards a fair, inclusive and sustainable future.” The land sector generates about a quarter of net carbon emissions caused by humans, due to activities such as logging, raising methane-producing livestock, and unsustainable soil management. Not only do these contribute to climate change, but in turn, the impacts of climate change such as extreme weather, drought and floods further degrade the soil, forests and wildlife.By 2050, between 50 and 700 million people will have migrated as a result of the combination of land degradation, climate change impacts and diminished crop yields.Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Patricia Espinosa recalled the origins of the three Rio Conventions on biodiversity, climate change and desertification, including the idea that these three issues “naturally coincided”. She urged governments not to look at these issues in isolation, adding:“Never has it been more important that we align our efforts even more strongly than before. We need your help to help people how the issues under the three Conventions intersect and how it impacts them…. We must, must, must work together. But it only works if your policies and programs reflect the importance of these linked issues.” Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) Elizabeth Mrema said: “Nature-based solutions could offer immediate and cost-effective long-term benefits to mitigate climate change, to address increasing threats to biodiversity and to restore degraded land. Nature-based solutions have the potential to not only reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and sequester carbon, they can also build resilience to climate change, as well as provide water filtration, flood buffering, and disaster risk reduction while improving soil health and biodiversity.”Outcomes of the event will lay the groundwork for concrete contributions to the forthcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, as well as global talks at the UN conferences on climate change and biodiversity. Notes to EditorsWatch the full statements on Facebook video stream: For interviews with the Commonwealth Secretary-General, contact Josephine Latu-Sanft, j.latu-sanft@commonwealth.int or +44 7587657269 (WhatsApp)For interviews with the UN Executive Secretaries, contact: Wagaki Wishcnewski, wwischnewski@unccd.int or +49 (0) 173 268 7593About the Commonwealth SecretariatThe Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 54 independent and equal sovereign states. Our combined population is 2.4 billion, of which more than 60 per cent is under the age of 30. The Commonwealth spans the globe and includes both advanced economies and developing countries. Thirty-two of our members are small states, many of which are island nations. The Commonwealth Secretariat supports member countries to build democratic and inclusive institutions, strengthen governance and promote justice and human rights. Our work helps to grow economies and boost trade, deliver national resilience, empower young people, and address threats such as climate change, debt and inequality. www.thecommonwealth.org About UNCCDThe United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is an international agreement on good land stewardship. Through partnerships, the Convention’s 197 Parties set up robust systems to manage land degradation and drought promptly and effectively. Good land stewardship based on a sound policy and science helps integrate and accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, builds resilience to climate change and prevents biodiversity loss. Land also plays a key role in the prevention, preparedness, response, and recovery phases of the COVID-19 pandemic, securing rural livelihoods and creating green jobs, supporting community resilience and maintaining the sustainable delivery of ecosystem services.
ENGLISH | FRENCH We, Ministers, representatives of the member states of the Panafrican Agency of the Great Green Wall of Burkina Faso, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sudan and Chad; Deeply concerned by the current global health situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic, whose socio-economic consequences in the short, medium and long term will also have a certain ecological impact; Recalling that the establishment of lasting peace and stability in the Sahel region requires joint efforts in the fields of security, economic development and social welfare; Recognizing the vulnerability of Sahelian agriculture linked to land degradation, the impact of drought and the significant needs of the region in terms of adaptation to climate change and in particular the adaptation of its agro-sylvo-pastoral systems whose productivity is strongly affected by global warming; Recalling that in the Sahel, agroecology, a tool for sustainable land management, represents one of the greatest potential for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions on the short-term, the fight against desertification and the conservation of biodiversity and reduction of the impact of drought; and, also recalling the major challenges of food security, poverty eradication and lack of water resources that member countries must tackle by 2030; Convinced in this respect that the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative represents one of the best responses to mitigate the effects of the economic crisis by implementing our land degradation neutrality targets, creating decent green jobs, especially for women and young people in rural areas, and the risks linked to insecurity, poverty, fragile ecosystems and climate change; Noting that, in spite of the multiple challenges, the Sahel and member countries are also a land of opportunities, based on productive natural resources, a rich cultural heritage with a young population receptive to technological progress and which aspires to a positive transformation of the region; Noting that human well-being and communities’ health are intrinsically linked to the productive capacity and resilience of ecosystems that are often the only source of income for rural populations; Welcoming the publication of the progress report on the “Great Green Wall: Implementation Status and Way Ahead to 2030”, prepared with the support of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and further welcoming the fact that the Great Green Wall Initiative has restored about 20 million hectares to date, while creating 117,000 direct jobs; Expressing our gratitude to the technical and financial partners of the Great Green Wall, including technical agencies as well as multilateral and bilateral funding institutions for their current and renewed commitment and support; We make the following declaration: We reaffirm that the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative is and remains a priority for each of our eleven member countries. We reiterate our shared vision of making the Great Green Wall one of the levers for achieving the post-COVID economic recovery, the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, the 2063 Agenda and the Paris Agreement in our respective countries. We call on all our partners to provide sustained and multifaceted support to the member countries of the Pan-African Agency for the Great Green Wall, as the implementation of the Great Green Wall is a priority for our States, which can contribute to the creation of jobs, wealth and prosperity. We urge development partners to combine their efforts and initiatives in order to contribute to, and facilitate, the alignment of interventions aimed, inter alia, at poverty reduction, ecosystems restoration, adaptation to, and/or, climate change mitigation, women empowerment, fight against irregular economic migration and jobs creation in rural areas. We call upon and encourage our partners, in particular the Green Climate Fund, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank Group, the European Union, the African Development Bank Group as well as the French Development Agency and other interested bilateral partners, to support our States in developing an umbrella program on the Great Green Wall. We call on other partners, in particular the United Nations agencies as well as regional and international organizations to actively participate in this umbrella programme. We invite the private sector to significantly contribute to the implementation of the Great Green Wall Initiative and we pledge to support the principle of greater, more effective and more efficient public and private financing. 7 September 2020 Signed by: H.E. Mme. Marieme Bekaye, Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Mauritania, and Chair of the Council of Ministers of the Pan-African Agency of the Great Green Wall, on behalf of the ministers of the member countries. Burkina Faso H.E. Mr. Batio Bassiere Republic of Chad H.E. Mr. Brahim Mahamat Djamaladine Republic of Djibouti H.E. Mr. Mohamed Abdoulkader Moussa Eritrea H.E Mr. Tesfai Ghebreselassie Federal and Democratic of Ethiopia H.E. Prof. Fekadu Beyene Islamic Republic of Mauritania H.E. Mme. Marieme Bekaye Republic of Mali H.E. Mr. Mamadou Gakou (Permanent Secretary representing the minister of environment) Republic of Niger H.E. Mr. Almoustapha Garba Federal Republic of Nigeria H.E. Mr. Mohammad Mahmood Abubakar Republic of Senegal H.E. Mr. Abdou Karim Sall Republic of Sudan H.E. Mr. Abdelgadir Mohamed Ahmed Turkawi
Close to 20 million hectares of land restored back to health by the Great Green Wall countries since 2007. Annual restoration of 8.2 million hectares and USD4.3 billion may be needed to achieve the planned 100 million hectares by 2030. GGW ministers meeting virtually today to agree on next steps. The Great Green Wall Implementation Status and Way Ahead to 2030 report, the first comprehensive status report of the Great Green Wall (GGW) was also released at a virtual Ministerial meeting held Monday, 7 September 2020 to review achievements and agree on the next steps. The report states that close to 20 million hectares of land was restored, over 350,000 jobs were created and around USD90 million in revenues was generated from 2007 to 2018 through the GGW activities. The restored area will sequester over 300 MtCO2 out to 2030, which would represent roughly 30% of the envisioned target for the GGW. The report also states that to reach the target restoration of 100 million hectares of land by 2030, the GGW countries need to restore, on average, 8.2 million hectares of land every year at an annual financial investment of USD4.3 billion. The initiative would also aim to create 10 million jobs by that date. On the socio-economic front, the USD 90 million generated, for instance, helped to reduce rural poverty and create close to 120 000 jobs in farm-related activities, including adding value to local products. Over 220,000 people received training on sustainable production of agro-pastoral and non-timber products, benefitting the shift more responsible consumption and production. According to the report, 4% of the intervention zone demarcated specifically under the GGW was restored. The additional 16% comes from regions restored in other locations in these countries. The GGW initiative was conceived in 2007 in response to widespread land degradation and extreme poverty linked to recurrent and severe droughts in the Sahel. Sahel is located on the southern edge of the Sahara Desert, stretching from the Atlantic Coast of West Africa to the Red Sea in the East. The response designed – the Great Green Wall Initiative – was to restore degraded lands across a 15 km wide and nearly 8,000 km long area covering around 153 million hectares of the Sahel. This is the intervention zone demarcated specifically under the GGW. The Initiative is led by the African Union and is broadly conceived as a means to transform the lives of millions of people living on the frontline of climate change by creating a mosaic of green and productive landscapes across Africa. The GGW is already helping households to support more livestock, grow more food and have better access to water. It is also creating better environmental conditions globally. “Financing income-generating activities linked to the land, typically the main asset the poorest people have, is perhaps, the most cost-effective way to pursue peace, security, development and good health. What’s more, the achievements reported here are from the Sahel where soils are not very rich. This suggests restoring land has the potential to transform lives worldwide and to mitigate the global environmental threats we face today,” says Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. “The GGW is yielding immediate benefits for the local communities and long-term ecosystem benefits at the international level. It shows that when countries dare to dream, work together and make the right choices, we can prosper and live in harmony with nature. And where innovative ideas emerge, positive, dramatic change that benefits both the local and international communities will happen,” he added. The key challenges the countries faced include financing, raising awareness about the initiative globally, scaling up the projects, coordinating fundraising and improving the governance, institutions and monitoring mechanisms. Data for The Great Green Wall Implementation Status and Way Ahead to 2030 was gathered by the national GGW agencies in the eleven countries, under the leadership of the Pan African Agency for the Great Green Wall. Donors, technical and financial partners as well as non-governmental organizations provided additional data and information. For more information about the report and ministerial event, contact: Camila Nordheim-Larsen, cnordheim@unccd.int To schedule interviews email kjimenez@unccd.int, copying press@unccd.int. All other media inquiries, contact: wwischnewski@unccd.int.
UNCCD Executive Secretary Ibrahim Thiaw announced the appointment of Tina Birmpili of Greece as the next Deputy Executive Secretary of UNCCD
An international technology competition to design software that can support well-informed land use decisions is launched today by the Group on Earth Observation Land Degradation Neutrality (GEO-LDN) Initiative.
The cost and consequences of land use change are underestimated as demonstrated by COVID-19. Investing in the over 400 million hectares of land earmarked for restoration will help to build back better and safeguard our relationship with nature.
Language versions: Arabic | Chinese | French | Russian | Spanish The international community is developing policy measures and actions to help the people most vulnerable to drought to take early action to avoid loss of life, and the heavy and growing losses of livelihoods and damage to property and ecosystems following droughts. The Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought (IWG) that is leading this initiative is convening for the first time on 26 March through virtual meetings involving four task teams. The outcomes of the initiative could become effective as early as 2022. The importance of early warning followed by early action for the most vulnerable people and ecosystems as well as the need for preparedness to respond fast, cannot be over-emphasized. The IWG’s virtual meeting is taking place after the Group’s first face-to-face meeting, scheduled for 25-27 March in Brussels, Belgium, was suspended following the outbreak and global spread the corona virus, COVID-19. “Over 70 countries worldwide are affected by drought, and the droughts are spreading to new areas, recurring more often and lasting longer, sometimes stretching over a few years or even decades in some regions. The impacts of these new drought patterns on people, property, infrastructure and ecosystems are unprecedented and are a growing concern for both developed and developing countries,” says Ibrahim Thiaw, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which is facilitating the work of the IWG. “Half of the global land is projected to be drylands and may be more prone to drought by 2050. The increase in drought disasters is a wake-up call to this threat, especially because some avoidable impacts occur due to late action, and at worst, inaction. The possibility created by the IWG to share experiences and learn from the best examples of mitigating drought is a big step forward,” he adds. Millions of people are dealing with the prospect of drought at the moment. In just a few months (April), in a situation reminiscent of the 2015 to 2017 drought, a record 45 million people in Southern Africa may be food insecure, partly due to drought. The World Food Programme needed 489 million United States dollars by February 2020 to help the 8.3 million people that were already food insecure in the region, but had yet to raise half of the required sum. Droughts destroy food that could feed 81 million people – a population the size of Germany – every day, for a year, according to a recent World Bank report. Drought is also one of the most cited reasons by young people leaving their homes in search of better lives elsewhere, including those migrating to Europe, according to a recent survey of migration patterns in Morocco. “I cannot emphasize enough the importance of this new inter-governmental initiative. Its value goes beyond the immediate outcomes of saving lives, livestock, rangelands and livelihoods in case of drought. It will improve security in some of the world’s most fragile areas,” Jarso Ibrahim Gollole, a pastoralist and natural resource advisor with Mercycorps in Kenya says about the results expected from the IWG. “The conflicts that arise among communities living across borders – but also within borders – as they compete, in times of drought, over few and shrinking pastures would be minimized. Also, the influx of communities from neighboring countries seeking to take advantage of the government services set aside for affected communities in Kenya, where drought responses are better, even if they are not perfect, would decrease. A collective approach to managing drought is far better than what we have today,” he added. Drought and drought impacts are also addressed under the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction processes of the United Nations. But the policy focus on drought is only one among many other disasters, that are more noticeable and get stronger policy actions, especially due to the dramatic nature of their arrival. Droughts, by contrast, set in slowly and wreak havoc on some of the world’s poorest populations. By focusing only on drought, the IWG is expected to develop concrete, feasible and appropriate global options to address its socio-economic impacts effectively. “Another world is possible. Drought resilience for countries at varying levels of economic development is possible. Witness the resilience of Ethiopia’s Tigray region to the 2014-2016 drought, the famous water harvesting scheme in Brazil’s north-east region, the Australian drought trust fund that helps farmers and the drought management approach of United States where a Presidential decree is issued early. How drought is managed must change fundamentally,” Thiaw said. “Drought knows no boundaries, political or sectoral. It is a connector. The work of the IWG can bring much-needed coordination among stakeholders at all levels and rally affected countries to act and work together,” says Daniel Tsegai, the UNCCD’s drought expert in charge of the IWG process. “Interest in the work of the IWG is already high. Governments, international and non-governmental organizations and other actors have sent close to 100 submissions for consideration. The submissions deal with issues such as collaboration among institutions, the barriers and challenges to drought response and recovery, the opportunities and measures for action as well as the lessons learned from successful cases,” he said. The IWG was established in September 2019 following intense negotiations by governments during the 14th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. Its outcomes, which include recommendations for action, will be presented to policy makers at the 15th COP session in Fall 2021. Notes to Editors See the FAQ for background information about the Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought. For more information about the IWG meetings and processes, contact Daniel Tsegai, dtsegai@unccd.int or visit https://www.unccd.int/news-events/call-experts-intergovernmental-working-group-drought Fact Sheet The list of potential interviewees: Mr. Daniel Tsegai Programme Officer UNCCD secretariat E-mail: dtsegai@unccd.int Dr. Caroline King-Okumu International Development Opportunities Manager Centre for Ecology and Hydrology E-mail: carkin@ceh.ac.uk Mr. Jarso Ibrahim Gollole Natural Resource Advisor and Pastoralist MercyCorps, Kenya E-mail: jgollole@mercycorps.com For media-related questions contact: wwischnewski@unccd.int