Land
The international community has long recognised that desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) are major economic, social and environmental problems of concern to many countries in all regions of the world. DLDD are likely to be exacerbated substantially by climate change and population growth, among other drivers.
The UNCCD 10-year strategic plan (2008-2018) provides a global framework to support the development and implementation of national and regional policies, programmes and measures that would prevent, control and reverse desertification, land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought through scientific and technological excellence, raising public awareness, standard setting, advocacy and resource mobilization, thereby contributing to poverty reduction.
The Environment Management Group (EMG) was invited to lead discussions on how the UN system can support the UNCCD 10-Year Strategic Plan in a coherent manner.
To this end, the EMG Issue Management Group (IMG) on land was established to propose modalities for a UN system-wide contribution to the implementation of the Strategic Plan and the preparation of a UN system-wide rapid response report on drylands and options for a coherent UN system-wide contribution to land challenges.
The EMG IMG on land has prepared the “Global Drylands: A UN system wide response” report through several substantive revisions and extensive consultation.
Global Drylands, a UN system wide response report 
The report introduces the drylands and their linkages to poverty and Millennium Development Goal (MDG) achievement. It emphasises that drylands are worth investing in and details some opportunities for investment in drylands.
The report details objectives and strategies for a UN system wide response to drylands challenges and opportunities. It identifies areas for system wide cooperation and common action on drylands with particular focus on response at national level.
The report’s key findings was made available to the UN General Assembly High-level event on addressing DLDD in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication in New York USA in September 2011.
The report was later launched at the 10th UNCCD Conference of the Parties in Changwon Republic of Korea in October 2011.
For more information on the report: Global Drylands, A UN system wide response click here
- Drylands Opportunities: was jointly published by the UNDP Drylands Development Centre, IUCN, and IIED with support from the Global Drylands Imperative, a collaboration of organisations involved in drylands development.
- Millennium Ecosystem Assessment - Desertification Synthesis.
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