UNCCD, WMO, GWP and FAO meet to discuss The Drought Initiative

25 April, 2018 – Rome, Italy – A meeting at the FAO headquarters brought together representatives of the UNCCD secretariat, FAO and WMO to explore opportunities for collaboration in the framework of the new UNCCD Drought Initiative, adopted at the COP 13 in Ordos, China. The meeting focused on various drought-related tools, programmes and projects implemented by WMO and FAO. The discussion went on to explore areas of potential cooperation by harnessing synergies, identifying joint steps and the way forward.
 
Present at the meeting were Mr. Robert Stefanski, Chief of the Agricultural Meteorology Division at WMO, Mr. Frederik Pischke, Senior Programme Officer at GWP, FAO experts Mr. Eduardo Mansur, Director of Land and Water Division and Dr. Mark Svoboda (through Skype), Director of National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska, USA. UNCCD programme officer for drought Mr. Daniel Tsegai and the Global Mechanism programme coordinator Ms. Camilla Nordheim-Larsen represented the convention.