Human mobility in the UNCCD

On 26 November 2014 in Geneva, IOM and UNCCD signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) at the 105th session of the IOM Council, the Organization’s supreme governing body. The MOU signature officially launched a structured collaboration on the land-migration nexus. The partnership aims to increase understanding of challenges and opportunities related to the interlinkages between human mobility and land degradation and create political momentum to bring these questions across global policy agendas. The IOM-UNCCD strategy for action focuses on three key areas of collaboration: (a) climate change adaptation; (b) rights and security; and (c) sustainable development. 

The land-migration nexus also offers several opportunities that are yet to be appreciated, for instance in the context of other international processes, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The challenge that IOM and UNCCD have to face by working together is transforming the vicious cycle of land degradation-migration-land degradation into a virtuous cycle. Securing land productivity is the first step to grounding opportunities for people in their home and land communities.