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Bonn, Germany – Once again UNCCD has joined other UN organizations based in Bonn for a yearly celebration in the historic Marktplatz on 20 October 2018. To entice the crowds to visit the UNCCD booth and learn more about the organization's work, the Capacity Building Marketplace team designed fun activities to engage guests of all ages. They could trace a maze or spin the roulette for a chance to win a prize by answering a question related to one of the UNCCD focus areas: land degradation neutrality, sustainable land management, The Drought Initiative, sand and dust storms, land and human security, land and gender, land and climate change. Another big draw for the guests was a table presenting UNCCD publications, including the Global Land Outlook. Among many visitors who came to support UNCCD and its work toward sustainable development goal 15 "Life on Land" were the Mayor of Bonn Mr. Ashok Alexander Sridharan and the Consul General of Türkiye in Cologne Mr. Baris Ceyhun Erciyes. Learn more: UN Day 2018 photos on Flickr More about the event UN organizations in Bonn

UNCCD Parties decided at COP13 that the secretariat should commission a study on “The role that measures taken to implement the Convention can play to address desertification, land degradation and drought as one of the drivers that cause migration.” The study will be presented at the UNCCD COP14 in 2019.  The introductory part of the study, which has already been commissioned by the secretariat, will set the scene and explore how land degradation and drought are influencing migration patterns. The substantive, narrative portion of the study, led by the secretariat in collaboration with partners, will include a literature review and collect best practices that have contributed to addressing the adverse drivers of migration related to desertification/land degradation and drought (DLDD).   The UNCCD secretariat invites contributions from Parties, UN Agencies and other international organizations, civil society organizations (CSOs) and researchers on documented good practice that contribute to addressing the adverse drivers of migration related to DLDD.  Contributions most relevant to the study would be those focusing on sustainable land management and land restoration and rehabilitation and should be: evidence-informed, a positive case, geographically traceable, factual and concise (less than 2,000 words in length). You can contribute a case study online by 18 November 2018 using this link.  Read more: English French Spanish

On Thursday the 11th of October 2018, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Secretariat, represented by its Capacity Building Marketplace (CBM), hosted once again, students from Bonn University, taking the Masters in Agriculture and Food Economics (AFECO).  During their visit the students and their accompany professors, Mr. Jan Börner and Ms. Manuela Meraner, had participated in interesting programme, comprised inter alia of formal presentations made by staff from top management to young professionals of UNCCD, UNESCO-UNEVOC and UNV; a panel discussion, an exhibition and interviews of students and professors. The whole session was chaired by the Chief of the Science, Technology and Implementation Unit (STI) of the UNCCD, Mr. Johns Muleso Kharika, who shared his expertise and experience most liberally.

16 October is the World Food Day, celebrated to draw attention to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 that calls to end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture.  Modern agriculture and livestock cover over one-third of the world’s land surface. In spite of production increases, we are now experiencing widespread food insecurity in what should be a world of plenty. Proven and cost-effective alternatives to minimize these impacts already exist. Overall, agriculture needs to be more effectively integrated with other land use sectors. Multifunctional approaches to food production are needed, recognizing that land provides many other vital services. Key elements include increasing productivity and nutritional values from a given area of land, reducing offsite or downstream impacts on the environment, and promoting more local production, less land-intensive diets, and a reduction in food waste.  Learn more: Global Land Outlook Chapter 7: Food security and agriculture Land and SDGs

Bonn, Germany – 26 experts, including scientists and policy-makers from every region, as well as the representatives of the global observer organizations, gathered on 10-12 October for the eighth meeting of the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI).  The meeting objectives included defining outlines and planning milestones for the delivery of the objectives of the SPI 2018-2019 work programme, as well as advancing coordination activities between the SPI and various global panels engaged in the science-policy nexus. The partner list includes the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystems Services (IPBES), Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), International Resources Panel (IRP) and Global Land Indicators Initiative (GLII).  The experts also worked on the production of work programme outputs and annotated outlines for technical reports that guide the implementation of land degradation neutrality (LDN) and the land-based interventions for drought management and mitigation. During the meeting, considerable progress has been made to provide science-policy ingredients for the key upcoming UNCDD events: Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC17) and the Conference of the Parties (COP14) that will take place in 2019. Read more: UNCCD Science-Policy Interface Achieving land degradation neutrality Land and drought

The International Day for Disaster Reduction is celebrated on 13 October to showcase how people and communities around the world reduce their exposure to disasters and to raise awareness on the importance of managing disaster risks. The UNCCD is making a contribution to addressing extreme natural events through a recently launched Drought Initiative that will work to enhance the resilience of communities and ecosystems to drought through the design of national action plans. The aim is to promote a paradigm shift in the approach to how drought is managed – from a reactive and crisis-based towards a proactive and risk-based one, built on three key pillars: Implementing drought monitoring and early warning systems Assessing drought vulnerability and risk Implementing measures to limit impacts of drought and better respond to drought An interactive Drought Toolbox will be developed as part of the initiative to help policymakers design drought risk reduction strategies at the national and local levels.  Learn more: Land and human security Land and drought Drought: reducing impacts and building resilience The Drought Initiative Le Monde: Notre avenir vaut bien nos investissements