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At World Water Week, a hard look at the notions that stand in the way of drought resilienceStockholm (Sweden), 2 September — Drought is on track to hitting three in four people globally by 2050. Around the world, scientists and practitioners have amassed a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to anticipate, prepare for, respond and adapt to drought. So what is standing in the way of more drought-resilient countries and communities?At an event co-convened by the International Drought Resilience Alliance (IDRA) at World Water Week, held in Sweden from 25 to 29 August, experts from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and the United Nations University (UNU) discussed how to elevate drought resilience beyond borders and sectors, upending preconceived notions on drought along the way. These are the 5 myths around drought experts wish to shatter:Myth 1: Drought is a poor farmers’ problem caused by the lack of rain Drought is a natural phenomenon, but the current global emergency is human-made, the result of poor land management and unbridled consumption, leading to water stress. Droughts are also becoming harsher and faster due to human-induced climate change. And although agriculture is being impacted by drought from the Southern Cone to the Mediterranean to the Horn of Africa, the effects are felt across sectors, starting with recent cuts in hydropower production in areas like northeastern Brazil, as pointed out by UNCCD Policy Officer and drought-resilience expert Daniel Tsegai.In the past weeks, droughts have forced the authorities of three Bolivian regions to close schools two weeks earlier as drought emptied reservoirs, posing a particular challenge for menstruating students; and 700 wild animals, including hippos and elephants, are being culled in Namibia's game parks to feed people in need as southern Africa battles its worst drought in a century, even as ecotourism is an important source of income for the region.Less water also causes major disruptions in transportation of people and goods —as seen in recent years from the Yangtze river in China to the Panama Canal, the Rhine in Germany and the Mississippi in the USA—, and drought fuels sand and dust storms, leading to air pollution and respiratory infectious diseases. Also, gender inequality means that women and children are disproportionately affected by the effects of drought.“Bottom line is: the cascading impacts of drought can touch all regions and sectors, including energy production, transportation, manufacturing, tourism, education and physical and mental health,” said Tsegai. “This means we need an inclusive and all-of-government, all-of-society approach to drought.”Myth 2: Droughts are crises to be responded to “We are not planning for drought. We are not appreciating the fact that the water bankruptcy situation we are in is no longer a simple anomaly, but a reality with which we need to adapt to,” said the Director of the UNU Institute for Water, Environment and Health (UNU-INWEH), Kaveh Madani. “Our response to drought is still reactive.”Madani noted that policy-makers and citizens often have the perception of water availability when it rains, without taking into account that overall water consumption is larger than replenishment. Additionally, having some water in dam reservoirs delays the effects of hydrological drought —when river and underground water levels are dangerously low— on societies. Since the impacts are not immediately felt, decision-makers and water users tend to dismiss early warnings and fail to take action. “Drought is not a crisis, it is a risk and, as such, it can —and has to— be managed with proactive policies and investments, without waiting for drought to strike,” added Tsegai. “This is the one major change in mentality that needs to happen.”Myth 3: Climate change alone is to blame for the effects of drought“From a decision-making perspective, climate change is a blessing for some managers because they can always justify their inaction and blame every failure on global warming and the international community,” said UNU's Madani.In his opinion, leaders must stop treating the water and land sectors as mere victims of climate change and harness their mitigation potential, putting the agrifood sector, including smallholder farmers, at the forefront of the fight against climate change. “Let’s stop blaming drought on climate change and start promoting the water and land sectors as opportunity sectors, instead,” urged Madani, emphasizing the need to shift from a reactive to a proactive approach to drought management. “One thing is clear: we will not engineer our way out of droughts, which are a component of the water cycle.”  Myth 4: Gray infrastructure is the answer to droughtAccording to panelists, drought resilience depends on good policies and incentives, supported by targeted investments and a mix of low- and high-level technologies adapted to each context. Such policies must consider nature-based solutions, instead of relying solely on gray infrastructures like dams and water cisterns.A recent TNC report, for example, analyzed which parts of the world face a growing risk of drought and flooding across in the next two decades. What it found is that nature is key to reducing these risks in more than one third of those locations. “When implemented at scale and in the right places, nature-based solutions can support healthy hydrological systems that naturally store water and slowly release it in drier times, building the resilience of ecosystems and communities,” explained Kari Vigerstol, director of Water Security Science and Innovation at The Nature Conservancy.The expert also urged decision-makers to take into account both blue water —found in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs— and green water —available in the soil for plants and soil microorganisms—, as well as surface and underground water. The latter tends to be neglected and overexploited, and there are few collaborative management agreements for transboundary aquifers.Finally, she made a case for involving water users in the management of the resource at all times, not only when the impacts of drought reach societies and economies, and pointed at the importance of weather forecasting, early warning systems, and technologies to enhance water efficiency in agriculture and reuse water.Myth 5: Business can continue as usualAll countries can better prepare to coexist with drought and, according to UNCCD's Tsegai, the political momentum has never been higher. Especially, in the lead up to UNCCD COP16, the largest UN land and drought summit to date, which will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from 2 to 13 December. At COP16, the 197 parties to the Convention will discuss, among others a global drought resilience framework, drawing on valuable inputs: the policy recommendations of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IWG) on Drought, established by the previous COP; the outcomes of the Drought Resilience+10 Conference (30 September-2 October, Geneva), focused on drought policy implementation; the insights from IDRA members and allies; and the lessons countries have learned by participating in regional and global communities of practice.The summit in Riyadh will be crucial in fostering a new drought management regime of a global nature, and securing high-level political commitment to drought resilience in the lead up to 2030 and beyond.For the UNCCD expert, the key components needed for countries to plan for drought, rather than simply respond to it, are there: the science, the economic case, the practical success examples, and the technical support.“The next step is to get the governance, financing, and implementation wheels in motion. I am hopeful that countries will rise to the challenge and use every means at their disposal in the upcoming international fora to correct, once and for all, the course of drought management,” he concluded. 

Side events organized within the sidelines of the official sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and/or its subsidiary bodies convened by the UNCCD provide an informal opportunity for Parties and accredited observer organizations to exchange information and experiences on diverse issues related to the objectives of the Convention. Parties and accredited observers wishing to organize a side event during the conference are requested to apply using the following form and submitting it to: sideevent@unccd.int The application form can be downloaded from the Resources tab on this page and should be submitted by 6 September 2024. Participants are advised that the secretariat is responsible only for room allocation. Time slots and rooms will be accommodated according to availability on a first come, first serve basis. For more information, click here.

When the flow of a tropical island nation’s most important river varies by 80 per cent between the dry and wet seasons, something is amiss. In a conserved watershed, the volume of water only fluctuates by 20 per cent, pointing to the role of healthy lands in trapping and slowly releasing moisture as opposed to having water run off in a flash. Such is the predicament of the Northern Yaque river in the Dominican Republic, a mountainous Caribbean country of 10.5 million. Today, water pressure on the river is around 96 per cent, meaning that virtually all the water that the river can be counted on to carry permanently is committed to use by a growing urban population, plantations, and industries. But change, with both short- and long-term gains, is underway.For the past 15 years, dedicated partnerships convening the civil society, public, and private sectors have come up with sustainable land and water management strategies that work for everybody — smallholders, utilities providers and financiers — creating a blueprint from which others can draw inspiration.Experts working to rehabilitate the Northern Yaque watershed, which covers 14.6 per cent of the country, talked us through their process and the success factors in improving the water security of more than 1,8 million people, while building drought resilience in the face of climate change. Partnering with water users The civil society-led Plan for the Development of the Northern Yaque Watershed, or Plan Yaque, convenes 32 civil society and governmental institutions to reforest water catchment areas, train farmers in sustainable land and water management, and help communities treat wastewater before it is released into the river. In turn, Plan Yaque is a technical advisor and a key project implementer of the Northern Yaque Water Fund, a financial and governance mechanism launched in 2015 to raise and administer funds for water security in the watershed. The Fund, which is one of two such structures in the Dominican Republic, brings together 27 partners, including the Ministry of Environment, universities, and the water utility company of the country’s second largest city, Santiago. Additionally, it involves major users like manufacturing companies and banana, rice, and tobacco producer associations —crucial since agriculture accounts for an estimated 85 per cent of water consumption in the area. “The Water Fund is built on the notion that no single stakeholder can do it alone,” says executive director of the Water Fund Walkiria Estévez, who notes that the Dominican Republic is one of the most water stressed countries in the world.Ensuring financial sustainabilityPrivate sector partners contribute economically to the Fund, while each of the customers of the water utility company of Santiago contributes a small amount. The money is then invested in different portfolios and 75 per cent of the profits are used in support of nature-based solutions for water security. The rest is channeled back into the Fund to grow it. But how did the fund get the private sector on board in the first place?“We don’t speak of donations, but of investments,” says Estévez. “The private sector is investing to secure a crucial input —water— for their operations now and in the future. Ultimately, it is about having users take responsibility for managing a vital resource sustainably.”Upholding accountabilityFor Estévez, measuring results, financial accountability, and transparency have been central to gaining and maintaining the trust of partners, as has been starting with low-investment, high-impact interventions that are based on science.“We did not wait for the trust fund to reach a substantial size to start funding projects and presenting results. That was vital to prove that our model worked and to keep the momentum,” she says. However, she notes that continuing to grow the fund is important to bring successful strategies to scale and to support new ones. For example, upcoming trainings to help lowland farmers conserve soils and improve water use efficiency, which currently stands at less than 30 per cent, according to technical project coordinator Alberto Lizardo.Artificial wetland in the Dominican RepublicDeploying nature-based solutionsOne of the star interventions in the watershed are artificial wetlands, treatment systems that use natural processes involving wetland vegetation, soils, and their associated microbial diversity to improve water quality. Plan Yaque is the NGO behind the development and implementation of these low-tech, low-maintenance systems, which have proved to be a transformative solution for rural communities. They have so far built 34 of them. The wastewater from the septic tanks at homes and schools is channeled to the constructed wetland, where microorganisms, aquatic plants, and sunlight remove more than 90 per cent of the pollutants, before the water is released into the river. Water pollution is, alongside flow reduction, one of the two main issues jeopardizing water security in the basin.“The nature-based system works wonderfully and does not need inputs or maintenance, beyond removing the sewage sludge every three months, which communities do themselves” says founder and executive director of Plan Yaque Humberto Checo, one of the leading figures in the watershed restoration and management movement in the country. Working in micro-watershedsFor Checo, from Plan Yaque, a key to their success is focusing each intervention in selected territories drained by streams, or micro-watersheds, 52 tesserae that collectively make up the river Yaque basin. The NGO conducted a diagnosis of the 19 micro-watersheds in the upper basin and prioritized those with both high-water production and imminent threat from the expansion of the agricultural frontier, which leads to deforestation and the loss of the natural systems that maintain an adequate water flow. Then, they identified key farms or producer associations and set out to demonstrate why shifting from slash-and-burn agriculture to self-sustaining forestry and agroforestry systems was in their best interest.Changing mindsets “Changing mindsets to transform land management one family at a time is the most important part of the whole strategy, and our most important learning,” says Checo.Short cycle crops like corn, sweet potatoes, and yuca mean that farmers must toil incessantly into their old age to make a living, he says, whereas planting macadamia nut trees, orchards, and even coffee ensures a good source of future income with minimal effort while regenerating the soil and protecting water catchment areas. Land use planning across the farm is part of the approach.Parched, denuded hills of the farmers who continued with business as usual 15 years ago now stand next to the stunningly verdant slopes of those who opted to shift to more sustainable agricultural practices, reviving the landscape and building economic security for present and future generations along the way. These type of efforts largely account for the rise of the Dominican Republic as a global land restoration hotspot.“Sustainability lies in this newly gained awareness of the need to care, together, for the natural systems that sustain us,” says Estévez of the Water Fund. This is what we ultimately strive for.”Bringing what works to scalePlan Yaque has also pioneered a payment for ecosystem services scheme (PES) with support from hydropower and water providers, and the country recently passed its first law on PES. The next challenge, says Checo, is bringing this and other internationally lauded, science-based initiatives to micro-watersheds across the country.“After decades of experience in watershed restoration and protection, we have evidence on what works,” says Checo. “With the right policies and investments, we could bring this expertise to scale while supporting the next generation of landscape professionals.”  

TUMU, Northern Ghana — As the sun rises over the dusty plains of northern Ghana, a quiet revolution is underway. In a region long ravaged by desertification and drought, communities are adopting innovative sustainable land management (SLM) practices and breathing new life into these once-parched lands. This is not just about restoring the environment but also about rejuvenating agriculture and creating a hopeful future. Women are at the forefront of this movement, whose leadership and innovation are paving the way for more sustainable lands and livelihoods. Women from the Nanchala community dancing and singingFor decades, the people of northern Ghana have battled against a harsh reality: their once fertile lands are turning to dust, their crops withering under the relentless sun. Traditional practices, such as cutting down trees for charcoal production, have only worsened the situation, leading to widespread deforestation and land degradation. “Especially this year, the sun has been too high,” laments Hillia Sulemana Joseph, the chairman of Sakalo’s community committee. “We are trying our best to help with the drought and all these problems.”  Hillia Sulemana Joseph, chairman of Sakalo’s community committee.In response to these challenges, the community, with the support of organizations like Arusha Ghana, has begun to adopt sustainable practices that promise both environmental and economic benefits. One of the most notable innovations is the production of charcoal from grass — a resource that is abundant and renewable, unlike the rapidly disappearing trees. “Arusha Ghana has come to introduce the grass that we can use to make charcoal,” says Joseph, explaining how this shift could dramatically reduce deforestation. “This will reduce the cutting of trees that protect the vegetation and the ozone layer.”This sustainable approach is not just about preserving the environment; it’s about creating a new economy. By producing grass charcoal, the community not only protects its natural resources but also opens up new income streams for local families. The shift to grass charcoal has sparked a small-scale industry, providing jobs and fostering economic resilience in an area where opportunities are scarce. Charcoal made out of grass dryingThe community’s commitment to these practices is enforced by a newly established local police force, which ensures adherence to strict regulations against bush burning and illegal tree felling. “If we catch you burning bush or cutting trees for charcoal, you will go to jail,” Joseph warns, highlighting the seriousness of their mission.The economic benefits of sustainable land management are not limited to charcoal production. In July 2024, a team from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) visited the Sakalu and Nachanla communities. They saw first-hand how innovative SLM practices are being used and witnessed the real results of the Land of Opportunities — Global Mechanism Project, commonly known as LogMe, which integrates environmental restoration with economic development, particularly for women. Women from the Nanchala communityThe LogMe project, funded by the Italian Ministry for Ecological Transitions and implemented by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is designed to create employment opportunities through sustainable land use. “We did not come with imposed technologies,” says Dr. Jacques Somda, head of the IUCN program in Burkina Faso. “We came to discuss with them and see together what we can do to change what they are doing that is not good for nature.”LogMe has facilitated the planting of over 60,000 tree seedlings to restore forests and farmlands. Four community nurseries with 40,000 seedling capacity were also established. 8 solar-powered boreholes were installed to improve access to clean drinking water. These interventions are helping to rebuild vegetation, store carbon and recharge groundwater. Dr. Jacques Somda, head of the IUCN program in Burkina FasoCentral to the project is the restoration of wetlands through reforestation and erosion control, practices that not only protect the environment but also enhance agricultural productivity. Somda explains, “By restoring the forest gallery, we reduce evapotranspiration and allow the watercourse to retain more water.” This restoration supports the creation of microclimates that can sustain crops even during dry seasons, boosting food security and providing farmers with more reliable incomes. Tree planting around water bodiesWomen, who have traditionally been marginalized in economic activities, are now becoming key players in this environmental and economic revival. Chambua Sahada, secretary of the women’s group Nanchala Community, describes the transformative effect of tree planting around water bodies: “With the trees, it was initially difficult to access water in December. But now, with the trees around, an ecosystem has been created. We can see crocodiles, hear birds, and there are even fish in the river.”This restoration not only brings environmental benefits but also empowers women economically. The LogMe project has introduced training programs that teach women to use energy-efficient cookstoves and produce charcoal briquettes from clay and dry grass. These new skills have opened up additional income streams for women, who are now able to sell these environmentally friendly products in local markets. Nanchala community women's group secretary Chambua Sahada with Gilles Amadou Ouedraogo, project manager at the Global Mechanism of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).LogMe has promoted livelihood diversification activities like beekeeping, dry season gardening and soap making. Over 120 women’s groups received beehives and training in honey production.Women’s economic empowerment is central to the community’s sustainable development strategy. By involving women in decision-making and leadership roles, the community ensures that its initiatives are more inclusive and effective. Sahada’s group has even broken cultural taboos, with women now harvesting honey — an activity once reserved for men. “In the beginning, it was even taboo for a woman to harvest honey,” Sahada recalls. “But now we do it ourselves.” Rehabilitated forest area in northern Ghana dotted with bee hives, part of sustainable land management practices that not only restore the environment but also provide local communities with new sources of income through beekeepingIn just over two years, the LogMe project has sustainably transformed over 80,000 lives across 8 communities. Through integrated approaches, degraded sahelian landscapes have been restored, food security boosted, forests regenerated, and new livelihood options created. The project shows that even in the face of desertification and drought, coordinated action can turn lands of despair into lands of opportunity. Dr. Somda says: “We make sure that the restoration activities are based on benefits for the local people. As we restore the land, nature also benefits from these activities.” Two young girls share a joyful moment at a community water pump in northern Ghana, symbolizing the brighter future being built through sustainable land management and access to essential resourcesSustainable land management is critical to addressing the environmental challenges of northern Ghana. Through innovative approaches, community involvement and comprehensive projects like LogMe, significant progress is being made in restoring degraded land and improving agriculture. These efforts are protecting the environment and improving the lives of local communities, demonstrating the power of sustainable practices to build resilience and prosperity. As the sun sets over Sakalo, casting long shadows over the rejuvenated land, the women gather once more, their hands and hearts full of the day’s work. They are not just restoring the land; they are reclaiming their lives, their dignity, and their hope for a future where the earth is as resilient as the people who call it home.

Land degradation in the Horn of Africa poses a significant threat to the livelihoods of millions, reducing agricultural productivity and exacerbating food insecurity. The region, where 70 per cent of the area is classified as arid or semi-arid, is experiencing its most severe drought in the past four decades, with dire consequences for local livelihoods and resilience. By December 2022, over 36.5 million people have been significantly impacted by the drought, with more than 20 million facing acute food insecurity as a direct consequence. Border communities face persistent poverty, as well as food insecurity, conflict, mass displacement, limited access to public services, environmental degradation, severe climate impacts and diminished agricultural outputs. In Ethiopia, for example, nearly 85 per cent of the land is affected by degradation, impacting approximately 30 million people, and costing the country an estimated USD 4.3 billion annually in lost agricultural productivity. The potential of sustainable land management and landscape restoration to address negative impacts of climate change and conflict became the focus of a UNCCD Peace Forest Initiative (PFI) workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 28–30, 2024. The goal of the Initiative is to foster peace and trust in conflict-affected and fragile settings by uniting communities across national borders to co-manage shared land resources and ecosystems. As climate change intensifies conflicts over natural resources, the PFI has the potential to assist countries in the Horn of Africa in integrating environmental and resource management into their conflict resolution practices, helping local communities secure livelihoods and address transboundary issues such as land degradation and water scarcity. The workshop in Addis Ababa focused on three main intervention areas: Sustainable, integrated landscapes management Development of agricultural commodities, value chains and trade\ Improvement of data management and sharing, and access Building on the groundwork laid at the inaugural PFI workshop in Nairobi in June 2023, this year’s event showcased a step-by-step approach to tackling environmental and socio-economic challenges in the Horn of Africa. Representatives of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda together with government officials, representatives of development agencies and regional organizations attended the workshop, organized by the Global Mechanism of UNCCD, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and CIFOR-ICRAF. As the Director General of the Ethiopian Forestry Development at the Ministry of Agriculture in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Mr. Kebede Yimam, noted, “Forest landscape restoration activities are of paramount importance to enhance our economic development, improve the livelihood of farm households, conserve biodiversity and enhance resilience to climate change impacts.” Workshop participants agreed on the need to align PFI activities with existing regional frameworks and initiatives, such as the Great Green Wall Initiative. IGAD representatives also presented existing projects that could be included in the PFI. Representatives of each participating country outlined national priorities and discussed challenges they face, such as data and resource availability. The workshop outlined actionable interventions to reverse land degradation, improve livelihoods and build climate resilience. The next workshop, planned for early 2025, will be validating project concepts and finalizing detailed project proposals in the participating countries. These outcomes will also contribute to the work of the upcoming UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP16), ensuring that the PFI approaches are integrated into broader international dialogue on land degradation and sustainable land management.

Central Asia is a region confronting complex challenges related to land degradation, heightened vulnerability to impacts of climate variability and change including natural hazards and issues related to jobs and fragility. Land degradation has vast economic costs for the region, where it costs, on average, five percent of Central Asia’s GDPInvesting in landscape restoration is critical to address the complex nexus of local livelihoods, land degradation, climate change, environmental security and economic growth. A regional program aligned with a shared vision is the most effective approach to making a sustainable difference in the Central Asia region. With border areas representing hotspots for land degradation and poverty, addressing regionality aspects and building resilience to fragility in border regions are crucial. This includes establishing peace parks, undertaking joint dialogue on regional policies, regional knowledge generation and sharing, and supporting youth with access to jobs.The World Bank's flagship $256 million Central Asia Resilient Landscapes Restoration Program RESILAND CA has supported the development of projects in Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and  Turkmenistan. RESILAND CA aims to address land degradation and bolster resilience to climate change in targeted degraded transboundary landscapes across Central Asia by developing analytics, providing advisory services and supporting investment projects to restore the region's degraded landscapes investing in the  resilience of ecosystems, infrastructure and people. RESILAND CA takes an integrated approach to sustainable land management, addressing common challenges across various land uses, including restoring degraded forests, pastures and mountain areas prone to mudflows. These actions are pursued through transboundary landscape restoration interventions in fragile border regions and regional policies to govern them.The $6 million RESILAND Kazakhstan, $52 million RESILAND Kyrgyz Republic, $45 million RESILAND Tajikistan and $153 million RESILAND Uzbekistan national projects work toward tangible and sustainable results on the ground especially in border areas as these are most impacted by land degradation,  direct benefits to transboundary ecosystem, infrastructure and communities living in the border areas. They serve as effective and replicable models at a global level for addressing national and regional land degradation, building resilience to climate change  and improving livelihoods. Specific interventions include:Implementing private sector, community- and farmer-centered landscape restoration using drought-resistant species of trees and shrubsMonitoring climate-change induced hazards and investing in nature-based, green and grey solutions to mitigate impacts of mudflows and floodsPromoting ecotourism and engaging communities in afforestation efforts, rehabilitating degraded natural habitats and protective infrastructureSupporting communities in diversifying economic activities to reduce pressure on pastures and forests.Developing skills with youth and creating jobsIn Turkmenistan, the World Bank is completing "Climate adaptation in Turkmenistan: Landscape restoration opportunities" study to identify hotspots of land degradation and declining  productivity along with adaptation opportunities where landscape restoration can best reverse these trends under changing climate conditions. Calling for increased financing for landscape adaptation and restoration initiatives, the study confirms that it costs less to fund land restoration interventions rather than deal with the economic costs of inaction.Recognizing that nature, landscapes and ecosystems know no borders, RESILAND CA fosters regional collaboration across Central Asia's shared borders and ecosystems. This contributes to improved connectivity of natural resources and increased greenhouse gas mitigation and greater resilience to impacts of climate change. The program also contributes to establishing jointly managed transboundary protected areas and peace parks to preserve biodiversity across transboundary corridors and strengthen regional collaboration on landscape restoration.As part of the UNCCD Peace Forest Initiative PFI, RESILAND CA unites Central Asian countries and communities across national borders to restore degraded landscapes and ecosystems and to manage forests, lands, soil and water. Through strengthened transboundary cooperation in restoring landscapes and building climate resilience as a cornerstone of food, water and energy security, RESILAND CA aims to reduce fragility of border areas and improve livelihoods of border communities RESILAND CA supports technical assistance, funded by GEF, Korea-World Bank Group Partnership Facility and PROGREEN and an investment program that national governments implement with low-interest financing from the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) and recipient executed trust funds. Participating countries also support complementary regional activities to advance dialogue, knowledge generation and sharing and collaboration among Central Asian countries.The Peace Forest Initiative is a global flagship programme of the UNCCD, highlighting the nexus between land, peace and security Sustainable Development Goals 15 and 16. PFI brings together stakeholders and partners to catalyze transboundary cooperation on ecosystem restoration with a view to building confidence and peace. It unites communities across national borders to jointly manage their land resources and ecosystems for a peaceful future. PFI has been launched in 2019 with the support of Parties to the UNCCD to assist countries affected by fragility or conflict through cooperation with their neighbors to rehabilitate and restore degraded lands, soil, water, forests and other ecosystems.