Guiyang, China – Mr. Pradeep Monga, UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary, on behalf of UNCCD, and Mr. Xu Qinglin, on behalf of Ningxia Forestry and Grassland Administration of China, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the establishment of the International Knowledge Management Center on…

Bonn, Germany – UNCCD has joined other UNBonn organizations on 8 March 2019 to celebrate the International Women's Day. This year’s celebration puts innovation by women and girls, for women and girls, at the heart of efforts to remove barriers to gender equality, accelerate progress for women’s…

By Ibrahim Thiaw, Under-Secretary General of the UN and Executive Secretary of UNCCD Science and technology offer exciting pathways for rural women to tackle the challenges they face daily. Innovative solutions for rural women can, for example, reduce their workload, raise food production and…

NGOs, scientists, local authorities, international institutions, private and public sector actors will meet in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso o discuss and share their position on the field of land degradation, biodiversity, climate change and their consequences for global North and South. The non-state…

The 20th biennial Australian Rangeland Society (ARS2019) conference will be held in Canberra 2-5 September 2019 at the Kambri Convention Centre. The conference will bring together managers, researchers and policy makers to promote resilient rangeland environments and communities in times of change…

As the UN Convention to Combat Desertification celebrates its 25th year, the 2019 Land for Life Award will be dedicated to “Decades of Impact”. We will recognize efforts that are contributing to land degradation neutrality on a large-scale, with long-term changes and dedicated actions for 25 years…

The governments of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger are among the 44 countries that have already committed to develop their national drought plans in the framework of the new UNCCD Drought Initiative. The UNCCD secretariat, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), the Food and Agriculture…

Dear colleagues, On the occasion of the UNCCD 25th anniversary and within the implementation of its Gender Action Plan, the UNCCD secretariat is launching a campaign during the month of March to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls. Every day in the first half of March, we…

Istanbul, Turkey – Public awareness event conducted by the UNCCD RCU for Northern Mediterranean on 15 February 2019 attracted 25 people who came to learn more about desertification and how it is addressed in Turkey. Presenters Esra Bektaşoğlu and Büşra Öztürk described the work of UNCCD, how…

Seoul, Republic of Korea – Deforestation, land degradation and increased natural disasters top the list of serious environmental issues that affect people’s livelihoods and the economic development of the North-East Asian region in general, and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) in…

The theme 2019WDCD will be celebrated under the theme of 25 years of implementation of the Convention and beyond, focusing on the path the Convention has taken, and the future the Convention could bring. The past 25 years Since its adoption in 1994, UNCCD has contributed to the advancement of…

Dear UNCCD Focal Points and stakeholders, I am pleased that my first message as the UNCCD Executive Secretary to you is about a very festive occasion. 17 June 2019 will mark the 25th anniversary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). The day has been celebrated as the World Day to…

The global observance of the 2019 World Day to Combat Desertification in Ankara started with a remarkable performance by Turkish traditional dancers sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey. Another curtain raiser was a video presentation of the World Day celebration, showing the…

Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General as Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) on 31 January 2019. He succeeded Monique Barbut of France. Mr. Thiaw brings to the position almost…

Monique Barbut served as the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) from 1 October 2013 to 5 February 2019. Ms. Barbut has been committed to the issues of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought through her previous work as Chief Executive…

The UNCCD library has opened its archives to revisit the important milestones of the Convention: the first scientific evidence of desertification, authentic papers from the negotiation process before 1994, awareness raising materials and more. In the sunup to the World Day to Combat Desertification…

Out of concern that “desertification and drought are problems of global dimension in that they affect all regions of the world,” the international community adopted the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in Paris on 17 June 1994. On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Convention…

To reintegrate the returning migrants and create an alternative to migration for rural youth, The Republic of the Gambia recently submitted a project proposal to the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Impact Programme for USD5.3 million funding under the UNCCD 3S Initiative in collaboration with…

Bonn, Germany – Reviving damaged lands and the livelihoods of people affected by desertification, land degradation and drought can be possible by 2030, according to participants who attended the 17th Committee to Review the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC17), which ended yesterday in…

Bonn, Germany – Reviving damaged lands and the livelihoods of people affected by desertification, land degradation and drought can be possible by 2030, according to participants who attended the intergovernmental committee that reviews the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat…

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, following consultations with the Bureau of the Conference of the Parties to UNCCD announced the appointment of Ibrahim Thiaw of Mauritania as the next Executive Secretary of the UNCCD. He will succeed Monique Barbut of France, to whom the Secretary…

Bonn, Germany – Over the past hundred years, the increase in human populations has been three times greater than during the entire previous history of mankind. More natural resources have been extracted from the earth and more land converted for cities, agriculture and industry than ever before. On…

The Global Symposium on Soil Erosion (GSER19) will be a science-policy meeting, held at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) headquarters in Rome, Italy. Jointly organized by the UN FAO and its Global Soil Partnership (GSP), the Intergovernmental Technical Panel on Soils (ITPS), together…

Georgetown, Guyana – Momentum to repair degraded lands and to manage droughts more effectively has picked up, according to reports released for review by an inter-governmental meeting that opened today in Georgetown, Guyana. An assessment of land degradation in 127 countries revealed that close to…