Stories

Bonn, Germany – UNCCD Capacity Building Marketplace now features a collection of specialized material to support the 2017-2018 Reporting Process, including an e-course, which contains numerous tips and training videos. The course has been developed to ensure that all reporting entities clearly understand the requirements for produce a quality report and have access to the necessary knowledge and tools that can make the reporting process more simple and straightforward. Read more...  

Twenty years have passed since the last atlas of desertification was published. Within that short period, enormous global changes have taken place in terms of human expansion and the impact that had on the environment. Equally significant progress has been made in understanding the fundamentals of human-environment interactions. This has been made possible, in part, by the massive increase and growth in the accessibility of global and WAD3 thus begins at a very different place than WAD2 in terms of scientific information and understanding. Read more...

The Capacity Building Marketplace (CBM) of the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held a tremendous activity on 15th of June 2018 at St. Georges International School of Cologne, Germany in celebration of World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD), which is actually commemorated on 17 June every year.    

Brussels, Belgium – UNCCD took part in the workshop organized by the European Commission (EC) on  the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) to increase synergies between EC partners and find ways to put land on the forefront of political agenda.  UNCCD presented the 2018WDCD video message from the Executive Secretary Ms. Monique Barbut and a trailer for the new documentary on the Great Green Wall initiative – a project that brings together development partners to tackle some of the biggest challenges of our time – desertification, poverty and climate change.   Participants, who represented EC, GIZ, FAO, World Bank, ICRAF and World Agroforestry, shared specific examples of best practices in sustainable land management (SLM) and discussed opportunities for collaboration on drought issues as part of joint activities developed by UNCCD together with the German Development Institute and UNU.  Learn more: Workshop video #2018WDCD campaign 2018WDCD video message from Ms. Monique Barbut Best SLM practices  

Cologne, Germany – To celebrate 2018 World Day to Combat Desertification, the UNCCD Capacity Building Marketplace (CBM) team organized a youth engagement event at St. George’s International School on 15 June. The team presented the work of the convention to the students who come from many different countries, explaining how desertification and land degradation are relevant to everyone and contribute to many global challenges, such as forced migration and climate change. The team highlighted various ways in which young people can get involved in the fight against land degradation, from global initiatives developed by the UN to photo competitions and community-organized tree-planting programmes. In the follow-up Q&A session, the students have also asked how their everyday choices can affect the land – for example, buying local produce to support small farms that invest in sustainable land management. The upper-school students were also curious how their future career paths, such as studying GPS mapping and remote sensing, can be used to protect land resources. The event concluded with a photo session and a lottery – the three lucky winners will get a chance to visit the UN premises in Bonn and witness the UNCCD CBM team in action.  

The European Court of Auditors has published a background paper on the effectiveness of the actions being taken by countries in the region affected by desertification. The paper was published ahead of the World Day to Combat Desertification that will be marked on Sunday, 17 June 2018. The paper states that 13 countries in the EU have declared they are affected by desertification, and that the auditors have visited 5 of those countries. The Auditors report will answer two key questions: 1) Do the Commission and the Member States have reliable information on areas at risk of desertification – including an effective monitoring system? 2) Do the Commission and the Member States have a sound framework to address desertification? In January, the EU Court of Auditors announced that it would examine the EU strategy to combat desertification. For more information, visit the EU Court of Auditors announcement. Read the press release, which is available in 22 other languages. Download the background paper.