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Communities all over the world have suffered some of the most brutal effects of drought and flooding this year. Flash floods in western Europe, eastern and central Asia and southern African. And catastrophic drought in Australia, southern Africa, southern Asia, much of Latin America, western North America and Siberia are cases in point. The impacts extend well beyond the individual events. For example, the rise in food insecurity in the southern African region and unprecedented wildfires in North America, Europe and Central Asia.   What is going on? This is much more than bad weather in some cases, and is increasingly so. The UNCCD organized an event at COP26, the Climate Change Conference taking place in Glasgow, United Kingdom, to focus attention on the land-water-climate nexus. The science and policy responses discussed make it clear that human decisions exacerbated by climate change are significantly – and arguably, catastrophically – amplifying the impact of drought and floods.  The discussion encouraged more strategic land use decisions. Decisions that ensure what we do where, and in particular, what we plant where, mitigatesthe impacts of both extremes, be it too much or too little rainfall. It also shed light on how important it is to have healthy soils. Soils that are replete with organic matter will obtain “more crop per drop”, and reduce the risks associated with drought and flooding.  Extreme events, including both droughts and floods are on the rise. With more land projected to be get drier and more and more people living in drylandsin the future, the discussions centered on the shift more than 60 countries are making from “reactive” response to droughts and floods to “proactive” planning and risk management designed to build resilience. Participants from Malawi, Pakistan, Honduras, Grenada and Burkina Faso provided concrete examples of policy alignment and cross-sectorial approaches to implementation. Here is a quick overview of the highlights. Read more:  Land and drought

Enhancing knowledge on the differentiated impacts of land degradation, desertification and drought on women and men With a view to strengthening gender-related knowledge, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) secretariat is currently conducting a "Study on the differentiated impacts of land degradation, desertification, and drought on women and men." The study aims to address the socio-economic dimensions of land degradation and desertification with a gender lens and document existing practices. In line with objective 4 of the UNCCD Gender Action Plan, this study will also contribute to developing a baseline on gender-related issues in land degradation and desertification. It builds on the efforts of the UNCCD Parties to produce gender-related knowledge and sex-disaggregated data on matters relevant to the Convention. The Secretariat seeks to collect cases studies and promising practices from Convention Parties, international organizations, civil society organizations (national and international), indigenous peoples’ organizations, academia, and other relevant actors on 5 different topics: Information and data on differentiated gender roles in the communities fighting land degradation, desertification, and drought. How women and men experience changes in environmental conditions, in particular land degradation, desertification, and drought. How land degradation affects women’s empowerment (including participation, economic empowerment, health, mobility, access to and use of resources, access to social services). How land degradation exacerbates the socio-economic vulnerability of specific groups of women. How gender is mainstreamed in national policies related to desertification and land degradation. Transformative actions taken by governments at the national level to ensure that women and men benefit equally from policies and programs addressing land degradation, desertification, and drought. Case studies submitted in English, French, or Spanish will be reviewed and collated, and the Secretariat may follow up to gather further information on individual projects or case studies. Case studies should be sent by 1 December 2021 to the following address: gender@unccd.int .You can also contact us at this address in case you have any questions. Download the questionnaire: PDF | WORD  Read more: UNCCD Gender Action Plan Land tenure