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
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OMNI NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL
DAYS PROJECTS
OMNI CELEBRATION OF UNITED
NATIONS
Contents
UNCCD
IFAD
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, 17 June
2008
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.
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
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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..
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INTERNATIONAL DAY TO COMBAT
DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT
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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
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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
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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..
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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..
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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..
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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..
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UNCCD y Fundación IPADE te invitan a participar el viernes 17
de junio en la celebración
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..
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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..
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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..
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Read more..
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World Day to Combat Desertification: ‘We can
all make a difference’ http://www.ifad.org/media/events/2012/desert.htm
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
Watch IFAD President Kanayo F. Nwanze discuss the
‘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
“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
“As world leaders meet in
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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