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

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022; June 17th.

FORUM:"Rising up from drought together.''  World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022.

Drought is one of the most destructive natural disasters in terms of the loss of life, arising from impacts, such as widescale crop failure, wildfires and water stress. Exacerbated by land degradation and climate change, droughts are increasing in frequency and severity, up 29% since 2000, with 55 million people affected every year. By 2050, droughts may affect an estimated three-quarters of the world’s population. It’s a global and urgent issue. Follow the converstion with the hastags #United4Land

EVENTS How can we contribute from gastronomy to fight against desertification?
Join us for a culinary experience for the World Day to Fight Desertification and Drought.
on June 16th, 2022 at 18:00, Arab House, Madrid.

Statements

• Statement by QU Dongyu, FAO Director-General on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022; June 17th.
• Statement by Ibrahim Thiam; UNCCD Excecutive Secretary on World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2022; June 17th.
• Ms. Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change
• Ms. Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity 

Key messages

• Droughts have always been a part of nature and the human experience but are now much worse largely due to human activity.
• Hardly any country is immune to drought, but all countries can prepare better to tackle drought effectively.
• Drought is daunting, as its effects on people’s lives and livelihoods are devastating. But through ingenuity, commitment and solidarity, it can be addressed successfully.
• Tools are available to assess drought risk. Solutions exist to ensure lives and livelihoods are no longer lost to drought.
• Everyone can participate in actions that increase our collective resilience because every action counts.
• Take action on this year’s Desertification and Drought Day and beyond
• Action can be taken at all levels, from citizens, businesses, governments and UN partners, everyone can come on board and lend a helping hand to rise up from drought together.

CAMPAIGN Droughtland campaign.

Thirsty for adventure? Dare to explore the one-of-a-kind experiences of Droughtland, the country with dryness of land, but not of spirit.

ACTIONS
The World Day to Cpmbat Desertification and Drought 2022 campaign  is a catalyst for action to be continued throughout the year:

1. As an individual, join the #Droughtland Campaign. Sign a pledge to keep your country from becoming a Droughtland – a nation plagued by drought; send a special Droughtland postcard or information booth; tag, post, share and inspire hope. Change your habits and share your actions. Visit https://droughtland.com/ to learn more.
2. Don’t stop on the day, schedule a monthly save-the-water-day. Grow your influence on- and off-line to promote sound water management and drought impact mitigation. Organize drought awareness events. Talk to your community. Seek out drought-mitigator champions and promote their initiatives.
3. Support communities to tackle drought head-on. No amount of early warning will work without action to protect the most vulnerable. Set up drought insurance programmes, establish food banks, build capacity and campaign for water-efficient food production.
4. Regenerate your land. When land is healthy, land is natural storage for fresh water. If it is degraded, it is not. Plant and consume drought-tolerant crops. Irrigate efficiently. Recycle and reuse water. Reduce water evaporation and soil erosion. Opt for a diverse plant-based diet.
5. Engage with schools. Educate, communicate and activate through children and youth.
6. Investigate and disseminate practical drought resilience ideas and inform local communities about the most appropriate actions for their soil and land types. Invest in projects that promote solar-powered water pumps and rainwater harvesting for drought-prone communities.
7. Share your stories about drought risks and resilience with the world.

World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2021; June 17th

 FORUM: Restoration. Land. Recovery - We build back better with healthy land. World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2021.

The observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought; 17 June will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes and increases food security. It helps biodiversity to recover. It locks away the atmospheric carbon warming the Earth, slowing climate change. It can also lessen the impacts of climate change and underpin a #greenrecovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

FILM SCREENINGS

EVENTS 17 june is World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought 2021; 

Message of UNCCD Executive Secretary on World Day to Combat Desertification, 17 June 2012

​
“Essentially, all life depends upon the soil. There can be no life without soil and no soil without life; they have evolved together”, American naturalist Charles Kellogg wrote in 1938. Fertile soil is indeed among the world’s most significant non-renewable and finite resources. It is a key element, which sustains life on the Earth and provides us with water, food, fodder and fuels.

But, as the global population is growing, competing claims on this finite resource are sharply increasing. Productive land is under pressure from agriculture and pastoral use as well as infrastructure growth, urbanization and extraction of minerals. To make things worse, policy-makers often overlook or misguide land use.

By 2030, the demand for food is expected to grow by 50 percent and for energy and water for 45 and 30 percent respectively. The demand for food alone is likely to claim an additional 120 million hectares of productive land – an area equal to the size of South Africa. Unless degraded land is rehabilitated, forests and other lands will have to make way for the required food production.

The rates of land depletion are especially worrying in the drylands, areas highly vulnerable to degradation due to aridity and water scarcity. Land degradation is called desertification here because it often creates desert-like conditions.  Each year due to desertification and drought, 12 million hectares of land - the area equal to half the size of UK - are lost. This is an area, where 20 million tons of grain could have been gown.

Drylands make up 44 percent of all the world’s cultivated systems and account for 50 percent of its livestock. If we want to be able to meet the three biggest global challenges in the next twenty years – food, water and energy security – we need to do everything it takes to combat desertification and to restore degraded lands.
The global observance of the World Day to Combat Desertification this year takes place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, just a few days before the Rio+20 Conference. To this end, world leaders at Rio+20 need to adopt a stand-alone goal on sustainable land use for all and by all. To achieve this goal, we need to avoid land degradation in the non-degraded areas and restore soil fertility in the already degraded lands. We also need to avoid deforestation and adopt drought preparedness policies in all drought-prone countries and regions.

In the past, zero net land degradation was unattainable. But success stories in land restoration, scientific findings and technical know-how today indicate that the goal is realistic. Practical solutions to desertification exist and are already being employed by local communities around the world. Sustaining healthy soil and restoring degraded land ensure food security, alleviate rural poverty and hunger and build resilience to major environmental challenges.

More than two billion hectares of land worldwide are suitable for rehabilitation through agro-forestry and landscape restoration. Of that, about 1.5 billion hectares are suitable for mosaic restoration by means of agroforestry and smallholder agriculture. We need to promote sustainable land and water management techniques, agroforestry and re-greening initiatives and support them on the political level and through new inclusive business models. Only this way can we become a land-degradation neutral society.

To make it happen, we need your support. Governments should introduce sustainable land-use into their policies, make it their priority and set up national targets to halt land degradation. Businesses should invest in practices that increase efficiency in land-use. Scientists, media and civil society should help us spread the word that this goal is crucial. Together, we can make this paradigm shift.

It is my pleasure to wish you all a memorable celebration of the World Day to Combat Desertification. This is an important reminder for us that despite some progress, land degradation, desertification and drought are still our reality. We should not let them dry up our soil, the very foundation of the Future We Want.

Therefore, let us go land-degradation neutral.
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World Day to Combat Desertification is observed every year on 17 June.

12 June 2012

Secretary-General SG/SM/14346 ENV/DEV/1287 OBV/1113

Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York

‘Without Healthy Soil, Life on Earth is Unsustainable,’ Says Secretary-General, Urging States to Ensure Sustainable Land Management Part of Rio+20 Legacy

Following is UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s message on the World Day to Combat Desertification, which is observed 17 June:

The World Day to Combat Desertification falls this year on the eve of the

United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.  Global efforts to halt and reverse land degradation are integral to creating the future we want.  Sustainable land use is a prerequisite for lifting billions from poverty, enabling food and nutrition security, and safeguarding water supplies.  It is a cornerstone of sustainable development.

The people who live in the world’s arid lands, which occupy more than 40 per cent of our planet’s land area, are among the poorest and most vulnerable to hunger.  We will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 without preserving the soils on which their subsistence depends. 

Nor will we be able to guarantee our freshwater resources, 70 per cent of which are already used for agriculture.  By 2030, the demand for water is projected to rise by 35 per cent.  Unless we change our land-use practices, we face the prospect of diminishing and inadequate water supplies, as well as more frequent and intense droughts. 

Further, by 2050, we will need sufficient productive land to feed an estimated 9 billion people with per capita consumption levels greater than those of today.  This will be impossible if soil loss continues at its current pace — an annual loss of 75 billion tons.  Important land-use decisions need to be made, as well as critical investments ranging from extension services for small farmers to the latest technology to support environmentally sustainable mass food production.

Rio+20 is our opportunity to showcase the many smart and effective land management systems and options that exist or are in the pipeline.  Twenty years on from the adoption of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, let us ensure that a commitment to sustainable land management features prominently in the official outcome at Rio and in the wider mobilization for sustainability that will also be part of Rio’s legacy.  Without healthy soil, life on Earth is unsustainable.

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For information media • not an official record