Established in 1989, UMA is a sub-regional intergovernmental organisation that, amongst other attributions, assists North African countries to implement the Convention. UMA’s members include Algeria, Lybia, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia.

The Convention contains five Regional Annexes on the implementation of the treaty in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Northern Mediterranean, and Central and Eastern Europe. These Annexes contain elements for the preparation of action programmes, their exact focus and content for particular sub-regions and regions, according to the respective socio-economic, geographical and climatic factors.

Affected country Parties shall coordinate the preparation, negotiation and implementation of national, sub-regional and regional action programmes. To this aim, they may set up a coordinating mechanism in order to facilitate, for example, the exchange of information, the development of thematic networks, the promotion of cooperation.

In the UNCCD context, five regional groups meet privately to discuss issues and nominate Bureau members and other officials. They are Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), and the Western Europe and Other Group (WEOG).

Designed through consultation with countries in the region, RAPs can help to harmonize and strengthen national programmes. In the UNCCD context, regions to develop RAPs include Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, the Northern Mediterranean, and Central and Eastern Europe.

Designed through consultation with countries in the sub-region, SRAPs can help harmonize and strengthen national action programmes. Examples of sub- regions are Western Africa and South Asia. See also Regional Action Programme.

Networks established at the regional level by affected country Parties to address specific themes of relevance in the framework of the UNCCD implementation. In particular, the Asian region is working on six TPNs (the following have been launched: TPN for desertification monitoring and assessment; on agro-forestry and soil conservation; on pasture management and sand dune fixation; on Water resources management for agriculture in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas; etc), the African region is also working on six TPNs (Networks for the integrated management of international river, lake and

These include permanent lakes and ponds, rivers and coastal water surfaces, such as lagoons and estuaries. It does not include the sea and ocean, as well as liquid dump sites.
(Source: https://land.copernicus.eu/pan-european/high-resolution-layers/permanen…)

Regional Action Programmes promote and strengthen technical cooperation networks to harmonize, complement and increase the efficiency of national action programmes.The purpose of regional action programmes is to identify the factors contributing to desertification and practical measures necessary to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought at regional level. These programmes may include agreed joint programmes for the sustainable management of transboundary natural resources, scientific and technical cooperation, and strengthening of relevant institutions to harmonize

Mechanism that facilitates cooperation among affected country Parties within the regions and enhance synergies among the relevant institutions, programmes and mechanisms of the United Nations System, multilateral development banks, bilateral donors and other regional and subregional actors and mechanisms in order to facilitate regional and subregional action programmes and, where appropriate, provide technical assistance to the national action programmes. The RCM could include, inter alia, regional committees, TPNs and regional coordination units (RCUs)
(Source: Decision 3/COP.9, paragraph 1

The implementation of the UNCCD is geared around five regional implementation annexes: Annex 1 for Africa, Annex 2 for Asia, Annex 3 for Latin America and the Caribbean, Annex 4 for Northern Mediterranean and Annex 5 for Central and Eastern Europe. These annexes are meant to set out the focus and content of action programmes for particular subregions and regions. They also provide a framework for regional coordination and collaboration.
(Source: http://www.unccd.int/en/regional-access/Pages/default.aspx)

A web-based system explicitly designed for the management and sharing of knowledge at regional level (such as data, information, tools, skills, expertise, best practices and success stories) among members within an organization or a network (for example, the Information Network on Desertification and Drought for Latin America and the Caribbean- DESELAC).

An improved drinking water source which is located on premises, available when needed, and free of fecal and priority chemical contamination.
See “Improved drinking water sources”
(Source: http://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/monitoring/coverage/monitori…)

Involves the protection of springs, rivers, and lakes from pollution, high water flows (floods), or over-abstraction of water.
(Source: WOCAT glossary https://www.wocat.net/glossary)

A set of activities that includes collection, transport, treatment, and disposal of waste, prevention of waste production, and modification and reuse/ recycling of waste.
(Source: WOCAT glossary https://www.wocat.net/glossary)

For the purpose of UNCCD reporting, this land cover class includes any geographic area covered by inland water bodies with a water persistence of 12 months per year. In some cases the water can be frozen for part of the year (less than 10 months). This class refers to areas that are naturally or artificially covered by water, such as lakes and/or rivers. It includes areas that are covered by water due to the construction of artefacts such as reservoirs, canals, artificial lakes, etc. Without these, the area would not be covered by water.
The class also includes coastal water bodies composed

The collection and management of floodwater or rainwater run-off to increase water availability for domestic and agricultural use as well as ecosystem sustenance.
(Source: WOCAT glossary https://www.wocat.net/glossary)

Country(ies), subregion or region benefiting from a given project, programme or initiative.
(Source: adapted from OECD Development Assistance Committee (2002). Glossary of Key Terms in Evaluation and Results Based Management. http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/29/21/2754804.pdf)

Improved drinking water sources are those which by nature of their design and construction have the potential to deliver safe water. Improved sources include: piped water, boreholes or tubewells, protected dug wells, protected springs, rainwater, and packaged or delivered water.
(Source: Progress on drinking water, sanitation and hygiene: 2017 update and SDG baselines. Geneva: World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), 2017. Licence: CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 IGO. http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2017/launch-version-report…