World Day to combat Desertification and Drought 2024; June 17th.

FORUM : “United for Land: Our Legacy. Our Future.” International Day to combat Desertification and Drought 2024. This year, the theme will spotlight the future of land stewardship — our most precious resource to ensure the stability and prosperity of billions of people around the world. Healthy land not only provides us with almost 95% of our food but so much more: it clothes and shelters us, provides jobs and livelihoods, and protects us from the worsening droughts, floods and wildfires.Yet, every second, an equivalent of four football fields of healthy land becomes degraded, adding up to a total of 100 million hectares each year. Growing word populations, coupled with unsustainable production and consumption patterns, fuel demand for natural resources, putting excessive pressure on land to the point of degradation. Desertification and drought are driving forced migration, putting tens of millions of people each year at risk of displacement. Of the world’s 8 billion inhabitants, over one billion of young people under the age of 25 years live in developing countries, particularly in regions directly dependent on land and natural resources for sustenance. Creating job prospects for rural populations is a viable solution that gives young people access to eco-entrepreneurship opportunities and at the same time to scale up best practices. Each USD invested in land restoration can yield up to 30 USD in return. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #DesertificationAndDrought, #Drought, #ourlegacyourfuture, #United4land, #17june, #DesertificationDay.

EVENTS : On June 17th, from 10:00 – 19:00 EDT. A High-level event to mark the International Day to combat Desertification and Drought Day 2024 will be held at UNHQ in New York. The several events organized will focus on the transformative power of healthy land for addressing today’s most pressing and interconnected challenges, including climate change, biodiversity loss, food and water security – a blueprint for providing future generations with a healthy planet. The Day will amplify a renewed global commitment to sustainable land management and drought resilience. The panel discussions are organized jointly by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UN Women, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The high-level event will be opened by the President of the 78th General Assembly with the participation by leaders representing governments, international organizations, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women and youth. It will include interactive dialogues and statements from the floor moderated by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw.

In Bonn, Germany, The global observance event at the Bundeskunsthalle, which will mark the 30th anniversary of UNCCD, will bring together world leaders, youth and prominent personalities from academia, civil society, sports and entertainment to showcase a strong ambition to be united for land, ahead of the UNCCD COP16, the largest-ever United Nations conference on land and drought in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2024. The Government of Germany, the Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the City of Bonn will organize a series of public-facing events. A photo exhibition, educational programmes and musical performances, together with a social media campaign launched ahead of the Day, will serve to ensure the global reach of this years' theme. The global observance event on June 17th will be hosted by Germany and will be accessible to online audiences via a livestream.

From 2-13 December 2024 in Riyadh, will be held the UNCCD 16th session of the Conference of the Parties; COP16 will be a landmark event for accelerating action on land and drought resilience and a gamechanger for the green transition in Saudi Arabia, the region and beyond. Learn more about the COP16 Sessions and the side- events. Register to participate!

Worldwide celebrations: View the calendar of upcoming meetings and Explore the map of events!

STATEMENTS

Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on World Day to combat Desertification and Drought 2024; June 17th.

Statement by the UNCDD Executive-Secretary on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2024; June 17th.

Statement by the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2024; June 17th.

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2023; June 17th.

 FORUM : “HER LAND. HER RIGHTS.” International Day to combat Desertification and Drought 2023. The global focus is on women’s land rights— essential for achieving the interconnected global goals on gender equality and land degradation neutrality by 2030 and contributing to the advancement of several other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Women hold a vital stake in the health of the land, yet they often don’t have control over it. In all parts of the world, women face significant barriers in securing land rights, limiting their ability to thrive and prosper. And when land becomes degraded and water is scarce, women are often the worst affected. Investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity.  It’s time for women and girls to be at the forefront of global land restoration and drought resilience efforts. Follow the conversation with the hashtags: #Herland, #United4land, #17june, #DesertificationDay.

EVENTS : The High-level event entitled “Her Land. Her Rights: Advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration Goals.” to mark the International Day to combat Desertification and Drought Day 2023 will be held at UNHQ in New York on June 16th from 10:00 – 19:00 EDT; The high-level event will focus on policies and actions needed to advance women’s land rights and promote stronger female leadership and decision-making power in sustainable land management. The event will be opened by Mr. Csaba Kőrösi, President of the 78th General Assembly, and will include participation by leaders representing governments, international organizations, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, women and youth. It will include interactive dialogues and statements from the floor moderated by UNCCD Executive Secretary Mr. Ibrahim Thiaw and also feature musical performances by UNCCD Goodwill Ambassadors. The event is organized jointly by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UN Women, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Offce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the high-level event will bring together leaders and gender equality champions to discuss policies and actions needed to advance women’s land rights and promote stronger female leadership and decision-making power in sustainable land management.

LIVE: High-level event entitled “Her Land. Her Rights: Advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration Goals” to mark the 2023 World Day to combat Desertification and Drought.

Statement by the United Nations Secretary-General on World Day to combat Desertification and Drought 2023; June 17th.

Excellencies, friends.

We depend on land for our survival. Yet we treat it like dirt.

Unsustainable farming is eroding soil 100 times faster than natural process can restore them.

And up to 40% of our planet’s land is now degraded:

Imperiling food production;

Threatening biodiversity;

And compounding the climate crisis.

This hits women and girls the hardest.

They suffer disproportionately from the lack of food, water scarcity, and forced migration that result from our mistreatment of land.

Yet they have the least control.

In many countries laws and practices block women and girls from owning land.

But where they do, they restore and protect it: increasing productivity; building resilience to drought and investing in health, education and nutrition.

Equal land rights both protect land and advance gender equality.

That is why this Desertification and Drought Day puts the focus on “her land, her rights”.

I urge all governments to eliminate legal barriers to women owning land, and to involve them in policymaking.

Support women and girls to play their part in protecting our most precious resource.

And together, let’s stop land degradation by 2030.

Thank you.

U.N. Secretary-General.

Remarks by the President of the 77th session of the General Assembly at the High-level event in observance of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2023.

Madam Secretary-General,

Mr. Executive Secretary,

Excellencies,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an honour to participate in today’s High-Level Event.

We derive much of our identity, culture, and traditions from our connections to land.

From my mother’s side, my ancestors have been farmers for centuries. That means they knew the values land offered, they respected and used the forces of nature. I learned a lot from them.

Land degradation is a threat not only to our food security, livelihoods, ecosystems, and biodiversity – but to our existence as a whole.

Land degradation wipes out the wisdom that has lived beneath us for millennia, and with it – our hope for the future.

Indeed, as aptly called by the South African writer Nadine Gordimer, the desert is “a place without expectation”.

Twenty-nine years ago, this body proclaimed 17 Juneas the Day to Combat Desertification and Drought.

Ever since, the GA has been tackling these challenges through the deeply intertwined issues of resilience and land restoration.

It has been a long struggle.

And we have all understood that, to quote James Lovelock, “Sadly, it’s much easier to create a desert than a forest”.

Today we cast our focus on two topics that matter to us all: land, and women’s equal rights to own, manage or inherit it.

Throughout my Presidency, I have strongly advocated for better integration of science and policy.

This is especially important for planning how to tackle the climate shocks that erode our global landscape.

So, what does science say about the intersection of land rights, gender empowerment and justice?

The data could not be clearer.

When women farmers have access to own land, they grow more and so do their children and nations.

The UN Food and Agricultural Organization finds that with women’s equal access to resources, including land, agricultural yields could rise by almost a third, resulting in potentially 150 million fewer hungry people in the world.

Empirical research proves that strengthening women’s land and property rights increases food security and reduces malnourishment.

In addition, when we include women equally in land management – and tap their traditional knowledge to promote sustainable land use – we not only reverse desertification, but also promote land restoration practices.

Together, these positive shifts in women’s empowerment have a ripple effect on income, and children’s welfare.

So, we have the evidence to support why it is advantageous to increase women’s land tenure.

What we are lacking are the policy decisions and investments that should not only target women’s individual rights, but also recognize their role in collectively managing land.

In this field, too, we should do our best to remove the barriers to women’s participation in decision-making.

The 2030 Agenda recognizes that gender-equal access to land rights is integral to the achievement of all our global goals of sustainable development.

All 17 goals – from achieving gender equality, to ending poverty and hunger, and to sustaining life on land.

This understanding of the integrated nature of both crises and solutions must have pride of place at the SDG Summit in September.

As we mark this Desertification and Drought Day, I urge you to recognize women’s contributions to the sustainable management of land and the broader achievement of our 2030 Agenda.

And I call upon you to promote laws and policies that give us a fighting chance at leaving no one behind.

We cannot let this foundational promise dry out.

Thank you.

U.N. General Assembly President.

Statement by David Cooper, Acting Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2023; June 17th.

KEY MESSAGES

• Desertification, land degradation and drought disproportionately impact women and girls, as they often do not have access to and control of land resources. They are most affected by reduced agricultural yields and increased water scarcity.
• In the vast majority of countries, women have unequal and limited access and control to land. In many regions, they remain subject to discriminatory laws and practices that impede their right to inherit, as well as their access to services and resources.
• When women are empowered, entire families and communities benefit. In addition to being on the frontlines of land degradation and climate change impacts, women can also be at the forefront of global efforts to restore land back to health and boost drought resilience. Gender-responsive land restoration is a pathway to reduce poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.
• Investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity. Securing women's land rights can help advance global gender equality and land restoration goals, and contribute to the achievement of broader Sustainable Development Goals.

Desertification and Drought Day 2023 global observance
When: Friday, 16 June 2023
Where: New York


The Desertification and Drought Day 2023 global observance event, titled “Her Land. Her Rights: Advancing Gender Equality and Land Restoration Goals” will take place at the United Nations Headquarters’ General Assembly Hall on Friday, 16 June 2023. Organized jointly by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), UN Women, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Offce of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the United Nations Development Programme, the high-level event will bring together leaders and gender equality champions to discuss policies and actions needed to advance women’s land rights and promote stronger female leadership and decision-making power in sustainable land management. Where and when General Assembly Hall, United Nations Headquarters, New York 

 Friday, 16 June 2023 10:00 hrs –13:00 hrs (EDT) / 14:00 hrs- 17:00 hrs (GMT/UTC) / 15:00 hrs– 18:00 hrs BST/ 16:00 hrs – 19:00 hrs (CEST)

Follow the event live: UNWebTV: https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1i/k1ix8i8j1z 

YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/J2EtR8hyy9g 

Twitter Broadcast: https://twitter.com/i/broadcasts/1jMJgLQYqpYxL 

Tweet: https://twitter.com/UNWebTV/status/1666114674176188418 #HerLand Event Programme 

UPCOMING EVENTS

19 JUNE 2023 - YOUTH Painting a beautiful world: a children's art story

When: Monday, 19 June 2023


The UNCCD/CDIO, through this project, "Painting a beautiful World: A children's art story", provides an opportunity for children around the world to paint the reality of the landscapes they presently occupy, or the one they would like to occupy.



09 OCTOBER 2023 - SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS
UNCCD Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention CRIC21
When: 09 - 13 October 2023


The twenty-first session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC21) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), will be held from 9 to 13 October 2023 in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.



02-13 DECEMBER 2024 - UNCCD Conference of Parties 16th session | COP16

When: 02 - 13 December 2024
Where: Riyadh

More details of the event to follow in due course.

CAMPAIGN MATERIALS:

Women, Girls and Land campaign
Campaign materials

UN Days, Weeks and Years > International Decades

As well as the annual celebration of certain UN-designated days and weeks, we find ourselves in the midst of celebrating several on-going internationally-declared decades (proclaimed by the UN General Assembly). Often, an international decade is launched by either an international year or on an international day.

1993-2002	Second Industrial Development Decade for Africa
1993-2002	Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons
1993-2003	Third International Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination
1994-2003	International Decade for the World's Indigenous People (following 1993 International Year for World's Indigenous People)
1995-2004	United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education
1997-2006	United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty (following 1996 International Year for the Eradication of Poverty)
2001-2010	International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World (following 2000 International Year for the Culture of Peace)
2001-2010	Second International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism
2001-2010	Decade to Roll Back Malaria in Developing Countries, Particularly in Africa
2003-2012	United Nations Literacy Decade: Literacy for All (from 8 September 2003 - International Literacy Day)
2005-2014	Second International Decade of the World’s Indigenous People
2005-2014	United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development
2005-2015	International Decade for Action, “Water for Life” (from 22 March 2005 - World Water Day)
2006-2015	Decade of Recovery and Sustainable Development of the Affected Regions (relating to the Chernobyl disaster)
2008-2017	Second United Nations Decade for the Eradication of Poverty
2010-2019	United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification
2011-2020	United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety

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For further information, we suggest you visit the UN's Conferences and Events site. Specifically you should check out "Conferences and Observances" in the "Background Information" section. (As the UN changes the URL of this page at least once a year we choose not to give you a direct link that may soon become dated.)

COP17/CMP7 : United Nations Climate Conference 2011

 The African Pavillon at COP17

Documents

• Africa pavilion events programme (2.2 MB)
• Africa pavilion layout (0.9 MB)
• Africa pavilion location map (1.0 MB)
• Mobilising and applying resources for adaptation to climate change-The role of the African Water Facility (302 KB)
• Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions Waste Water Treatment Plant Egypt-Gabal el Asfar Wastewater Treatment Plant Project Stage II Phase II (404 KB)

Multimedia :

AfDB at COP17

 Participants Reactions  

Africa Pavilion in their own words	Africa Pavilion in their own words
Interview with Abdoulaye Dagamaissa, AfDB forestry expert speaking on the AfDB’s forestry projects. He covers the issues of forest preservation, gender and youth	Interview with Gaston Grenier, Facilitator for the Congo Basin Forest Partnership. He spoke on the Harmonization of the contribution of CBFF partners
Interview of Lars Jorgensen, Senior Project Manager at Phoenix Design Aid. The contractor of the African Pavilion talks about the design and inspiration for the forest exhibition and the experience for the visitors

 AfDB Response to Climate Change

Inga Hydroelectric Development, DRC	AfDB – Protecting the Niger River
Ain Beni Mathar Thermo-Soar Power Station, Morocco	Madagascar : Le projet hydroélectrique Sahanivotry
Biochar Forest Project, DRC	Africa and Climate Change
Green Economy and Structural Transformation	Africa Green Fund
Uganda - Bujagali Hydropower Project