Welcome

Foreword by the Executive Secretary of the UNCCD

Eleven years ago at the Rio Earth Summit, the international community called for the establishment of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), which was adopted in 1994. This was in recognition of the threat posed by desertification worldwide and particularly in Africa. Desertification is a global problem that directly affects a third of the earth’s land surface, or over 4 billion hectares. In addition, the livelihoods of some 1.2 billion people who depend on land for most of their needs and usually the world’s poorest in over 110 countries are threatened. Desertification is at the root of poverty and food insecurity, resulting in socio-economic and political crises worldwide.

Fortunately, since the Convention entered into force in 1996, leaps forward have been made. One hundred and eighty-seven countries are Parties to the Convention as at June 2003 and five regional annexes have been adopted to cover all affected regions of the world, making it truly global in reach. Further, five Conference of the Parties have been held since 1997 in Rome, Dakar, Recife, Bonn, and Geneva, during which desertification experts, government officials, international organisations and the civil society have all provided valuable input in drawing up effective measures to combat desertification.

As a result, 66 National Action Programmes have already been completed and the Convention is moving from preparation to implementation of these programmes, which constitute long-term policy guidelines and the backbone of the Convention.
Subregional and regional action programmes are also developing at an encouraging pace. The Convention is now bearing fruits and at the first session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention in 2002, best practices were identified throughout the world.

This is, however, only the beginning and much remains to be done. Best practices must be replicated worldwide, information and technology shared, and bottlenecks overcome, in order to effectively implement the Convention. Only through continued collaboration and active participation of all stakeholders, will we have more success stories about real differences being made to restore dryland ecosystems and improve the livelihood of the millions affected.

It is in this spirit that I welcome all participants to the Sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties being held in Havana. I am assured that continued discussion on means to improve the implementation of the Convention and enhanced cooperation for concrete actions will contribute to combating the global threat of desertification and draw us closer to sustainable development in drylands.

Hama Arba Diallo
Executive Secretary