Sunday, June 17, 2012


OMNI NEWSLETTER #1 UN INTERNATIONAL DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT:  JUNE 17, 2012.   Compiled by Dick Bennett for a Culture of Peace, Justice, and ECOLOGY.

Here is the link to all OMNI newsletters:  http://www.omnicenter.org/newsletter-archive/   For a knowledge-based peace, justice, and ecology movement and an informed citizenry as the foundation for change.


OMNI NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL DAYS PROJECTS
OMNI CELEBRATION OF UNITED NATIONS

Contents
UNCCD
IFAD
Rio + 20


  World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, 17 June 2008

Background
In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" to promote public awareness of the issue, and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa.

Ever since, country Parties to the Convention, organizations of the United Nations System, international and non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders have celebrated this particular day with a series of outreach activities worldwide.

The theme of the day this year is "Combating Land Degradation for Sustainable Agriculture".

The celebration of the Day this year is very important since the adoption of the 10-year strategic plan and framework to enhance the implementation of the Convention represents a turning point in the UNCCD process and recognizes the convention as an instrument to prevent, control and reverse desertification/land degradation and also to contribute to the reduction of poverty while promoting sustainable development.

The Convention is the only internationally recognized, legally binding instrument that addresses the problem of land degradation in dryland. It enjoys a truly universal membership of 193 Parties.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a unique occasion to remind everybody that desertification can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and co-operation at all levels
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UN INTERNATIONAL DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT:  JUNE 17




Drylands must not be ‘deserts’ of investment, top UNCCD official urges
17/06/2011 - “Yesterday, the ‘First Africa Drylands Week’ ended with a simple, yet new, message: the drylands are areas with great potential for the development and sustainable growth of its populations and nations. We must translate this into reality in economic terms with regard to the costs of inaction in relation to the costs and benefits of action in order to convince treasuries that the drylands should no longer be ‘deserts’ of investment,” Mr. Luc Gnacadja, the UN’s top advisor on land degradation, desertification and drought, said this morning. more..

INTERNATIONAL DAY TO COMBAT DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT


Dry forests and scrubland provide the backbone of arid ecosystems says UN Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon on the World Day to Combat Desertification
17/06/2011 - “The management, conservation and sustainable development of dry forests are central to combating desertification. The ongoing greening of the Sahel and other success stories around the world show that degraded lands can be reclaimed by agroforestry and other sustainable practices. We need to scale up these interventions and disseminate their results widely.” more..




The Launching Ceremony for the International Year of Forests 2011 and the International Symposium on Combating Desertification
23/06/2011 - This year's International Symposium takes place in the Republic of Korea, the host country of the UNCCD COP10. The Symposium will highlight the role of forests in solving environmental issues and explore measures to combat desertification. Ministries, international, governmental and non-governmental organizations, academics, business, and all other stakeholders are invited. Registration is free. more..




More attention should be paid to forests in drylands, says Mr. Michel Jarraud, the Secretary-General of WMO, for the World Day to Combat Desertification
16/06/2011 - “The importance of forests in our world is evident because they provide a natural sink for carbon, contributing to mitigation of climate change. … Some of the mitigations measures prevent deforestation in the tropical rainforest, but more attention should be paid to the possibilities of keeping and expanding forest into drylands”, says Mr. Michel Jarraud, the Secretary-General of the World Meteorological Organization. more..




UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner’s Message on the World Day to Combat Desertification to be observed tomorrow
16/06/2011 - It is often a pre-occupation of the international community to look at forests through the lens of tropical forests – dense forests and those areas that can be recognized from far away as being forest ecosystems. But it is through the lens of the Desertification Convention’s work that we have also learned that forest ecosystem in drylands areas are often very vital parts of maintaining the livelihoods and the local economy of parts of the world that may not show up on satellite images as being dense forests, but are indeed providing vital services for local communities and often very vulnerable marginal lands, states UNEP’s Achim Steiner. more..




Observances of the World Day to Combat Desertification taking place globally tomorrow
16/06/2011 - In his message for the Day, Mr Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations, says the challenges facing the “forgotten billion” men, women and children in the drylands deserve special attention in the global efforts to meet the Millennium Development Goals. more..




Video "Forests Keep Drylands Working" for the World Day to Combat Desertification, 17 June
15/06/2011 - Environmental film director John Liu (Hope in a changing climate) has created a 12-minute film to celebrate the World Day to Combat Desertification, which is observed this y ear with the slogan, "Forests keep drylands working". more..




UNCCD y Fundación IPADE te invitan a participar el viernes 17 de junio en la celebración del Día Mundial de Lucha contra la Desertificación en Madrid
15/06/2011 - La jornada comenzará a las 10h30 con una rueda de prensa en la que se designará oficialmente al campeón del Mundo con la selección Española de Fútbol, Carlos Marchena, como nuevo Embajador para la Lucha contra la Desertificación. more..




CBD Executive Secretary Ahmed Djoglaf’s Speaks Up for the World Day to Combat Desertification
14/06/2011 - Today’s celebration is an opportunity not only to reflect on what forests provide to human well-being, but to undertake the long-term action necessary to ensure a sustainable future for ourselves, but also most importantly, to our children, claims Mr. Ahmed Djoglaf, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention on Biodiversity Conservation. more..




Don’t leave the drylands inhabitants behind, Urges Christina Figueres, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, on the World Day to Combat Desertification
13/06/2011 - “Deserts and drylands are literally the forefront of the negative impacts of climate change. But they are also on the forefront of our opportunities to respond to climate change,” states Christina Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. more..



Read more..




World Day to Combat Desertification: ‘We can all make a difference’ http://www.ifad.org/media/events/2012/desert.htm

Local farmers cultivate fields using agro-ecology techniques in north-eastern Brazil.ROME, Italy, 13 June 2012 – ‘Desertification’ is an awkward word for an ugly phenomenon that ranks among the greatest environmental challenges of our time. Yet most people, it seems fair to say, either haven’t heard of it or don’t understand it.
Although desertification can include the encroachment of sand dunes on land, it doesn’t refer to the advance of deserts. Rather, it is the persistent degradation of dryland ecosystems by human activities including unsustainable farming, mining, overgrazing and clear-cutting of land – and by climate change. Drylands are already fragile. As they become degraded, the impact on people, livestock and the environment can be devastating.
Every year since 1995, the United Nations World Day to Combat Desertification has been raising public awareness about the need for international cooperation to prevent desertification and mitigate the effects of drought. Observed on 17 June, the day also commemorates the adoption of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification, which has been signed by 194 member states.
In 2012, it falls on the eve of the UN Summit on Sustainable Development, better known as Rio+20, [see below] which is being held in Brazil 20 years after the first global environmental summit took place there. Since land is the planet’s most significant non-renewable resource, the connections between desertification and Rio+20 are self-evident. The summit offers world leaders an opportunity to commit to a future without land degradation.
Watch IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze discuss the Rio+20 summit and smallholder farmers’ key role in addressing environmental threats such as desertification. http://www.ifad.org/media/events/2012/desert.htm

‘A matter of life and death’
In a video message marking this year’s World Day to Combat Desertification, IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze stresses the impact of land degradation on small-scale farmers – and the steps IFAD is taking to help them protect both the environment and their livelihoods.

“The loss of arable land to desertification is a huge obstacle to eradicating poverty and hunger,” says Nwanze. “Every day at IFAD, we are confronted with the human cost of this. Subsistence farmers, nomadic herders and other poor people who depend on land and rain for their survival are hit the hardest. Their land is less productive and their soil is less resilient. For millions of people, halting desertification is a matter of life and death. When people cannot earn an income from the land or feed themselves, they must migrate or starve.
Nwanze goes on to point out that prolonged droughts can lead to humanitarian catastrophes such as last year’s food crisis in the Horn of Africa and the similar threat now facing millions in the Sahel region of West Africa. Such crises are a major concern in countries that are already impoverished and cannot sustain large agricultural losses.
“If we are going to eliminate rural poverty and make communities more resilient to climate change, we have to address how land and natural resources are managed,” he says.
Managing land and resources
To that end, combating desertification has become central to IFAD’s investment programmes, grants and policy initiatives. Today, approximately 70 per cent of IFAD-supported programmes and projects operate in ecologically fragile environments that are prone to severe environmental degradation.

Women are often at the forefront of fighting desertification or managing land degradation, because in many parts of the world, women are the farmers. They are also often the ones responsible for gathering firewood and water, and tending the fields. As a result, IFAD pays particular attention to the role of women in dryland management.
For women and men farmers alike, IFAD’s efforts focus on the adoption of simple, cost-effective agricultural practices that keep moisture and nutrients in the soil. These include micro-irrigation, improved water harvesting and the cultivation of native trees and plants.
“I have seen for myself that this works,” Nwanze says in his video message, recalling a visit to Zongbèga village in a drought-prone region of Burkina Faso last year. There, smallholder farmers harvest rainwater by digging ‘planting pits,’ thereby restoring the degraded land and increasing their crop yields.
“As world leaders meet in Rio, the villagers of Zongbèga will be carefully managing their land,” Nwanze concludes. “Let us learn from these farmers, who each day prove that we can all make a difference. Let us join them by transforming the way we manage our natural resources, and continuing our work even after the spotlight has moved on.
Watch IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze’s video message about the impact of desertification and land degradation on small-scale farmers.
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UN Photo/Martine Perret
More Information
·         Preliminary Information note
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
What is Rio+20?
Rio+20 - the short name for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in June 2012 - is an historic opportunity to define pathways to a safer, more equitable, cleaner, greener and more prosperous world for all.
Twenty years after the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, where countries adopted Agenda 21 - a blueprint to rethink economic growth, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection - the UN is again bringing together governments, international institutions and major groups to agree on a range of smart measures that can reduce poverty while promoting decent jobs, clean energy and a more sustainable and fair use of resources.
Rio+20 is a chance to move away from business-as-usual and to act to end poverty, address environmental destruction and build a bridge to the future.
What issues will be discussed?
The official discussions will focus on two main themes: How to build a green economy to achieve sustainable development and lift people out of poverty, including support for developing countries that will allow them to find a green path for development; and how to improve international coordination for sustainable development.
What will happen at Rio+20?
Thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other stakeholders will gather in Rio at the end of May and beginning of June 2012 for a strong push towards sustainable development.
The last session of the Preparatory Committee for the Conference and the actual conference will take place there in June 2012.
In parallel with and between the official events, there will be numerous side events, exhibitions, presentations, fairs and announcements by a wide range of partners.
Governments are expected to adopt clear and focused practical measures for implementing sustainable development, based on the many examples of success we have seen over the last 20 years.
About the Rio+20 Conference
At the Rio+20 Conference, world leaders, along with thousands of participants from governments, the private sector, NGOs and other groups, will come together to shape how we can reduce poverty, advance social equity and ensure environmental protection on an ever more crowded planet to get to the future we want.
The United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) is being organized in pursuance of General Assembly Resolution 64/236 (A/RES/64/236), and will take place in Brazil on 20-22 June 2012 to mark the 20th anniversary of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), in Rio de Janeiro, and the 10th anniversary of the 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg.
The Rio+20 Conference It is envisaged as a Conference at the highest possible level, including Heads of State and Government or other representatives. The Conference will result in a focused political document.
Themes of the Conference
Seven priority areas
The preparations for Rio+20 have highlighted seven areas which need priority attention; these include decent jobs, energy, sustainable cities, food security and sustainable agriculture, water, oceans and disaster readiness.
How is Rio+20 being organized
Rio+20 is a joint endeavour of the entire UN System. A dedicated Secretariat is responsible for coordinating and facilitating inputs to the preparatory process from all UN bodies. The Rio+20 Secretariat is housed in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs and headed by Conference Secretary-General Sha Zukang, who is supported by two Executive Coordinators: Elizabeth Thompson (former Minister of Environment of Barbados) and Ambassador Brice Lalonde (Former Minister of Environment of France). The preparatory process is led by an 11-member Bureau composed of UN Ambassadors from all regions of the world. The host country, Brazil, is leading the logistical preparations on the ground.
What is sustainable development?
Sustainable development meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. Seen as the guiding principle for long-term global development, sustainable development consists of three pillars: economic development, social development and environmental


 

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