“The international community’s battle against desertification and the effects of droughts is on the threshold of a paradigm shift,” Mr. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has said, ahead of a global conference on the Convention set to take place in Bonn, Germany, from 16- 25 February 2011.
“During the last four decades, initiatives to combat desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought lacked defined impact indicators. That is set to change when we meet next week to clarify the benchmarks to be used, going forward, to assess progress both in terms of the immediate action to be taken and long term change,” Mr. Gnacadja added.
The second special session of the Committee for Science and Technology (CST S-2) which will take place from 16-18 February will focus on the methodologies to be used to measure changes in land cover status and the proportion of the population living above the poverty line in areas affected by desertification. These are the two mandatory indicators to measure impact agreed upon at the 2009 Conference of the Parties to the Convention. The CST is a subsidiary body of the Convention.
For the first time in the history of the UNCCD, the reports on the actions countries, civil society organizations and international organizations have taken to combat desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought will be based on one template with performance indicators, known as the Performance Review and Assessment of Implementation System, PRAIS. The reports, to be reviewed at the ninth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation (CRIC 9) meeting of 21-25 February, are expected to provide the baseline for future performance assessments.
Media Advisory
What: Media briefing on the second special session of the committee on Science and Technology (CST S-2)
and ninth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Conference (CRIC 9)
When: Monday, 14 February 2011, 11:00-12:00 hrs
Where: Room 2712, United Nations Building, Langer Eugen, Hermann-Ehlers Str.10, 53113 Bonn, Germany“The international community’s battle against desertification and the effects of droughts is on the threshold of a paradigm shift,” Mr. Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has said, ahead of a global conference on the Convention set to take place in Bonn, Germany, from 16- 25 February 2011.
“During the last four decades, initiatives to combat desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought lacked defined impact indicators. That is set to change when we meet next week to clarify the benchmarks to be used, going forward, to assess progress both in terms of the immediate action to be taken and long term change,” Mr. Gnacadja added.
The second special session of the Committee for Science and Technology (CST S-2) which will take place from 16-18 February will focus on the methodologies to be used to measure changes in land cover status and the proportion of the population living above the poverty line in areas affected by desertification. These are the two mandatory indicators to measure impact agreed upon at the 2009 Conference of the Parties to the Convention. The CST is a subsidiary body of the Convention.
For the first time in the history of the UNCCD, the reports on the actions countries, civil society organizations and international organizations have taken to combat desertification and to mitigate the effects of drought will be based on one template with performance indicators, known as the Performance Review and Assessment of Implementation System, PRAIS. The reports, to be reviewed at the ninth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation (CRIC 9) meeting of 21-25 February, are expected to provide the baseline for future performance assessments.
Media Advisory
What: Media briefing on the second special session of the committee on Science and Technology (CST S-2)
and ninth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Conference (CRIC 9)
When: Monday, 14 February 2011, 11:00-12:00 hrs
Where: Room 2712, United Nations Building, Langer Eugen, Hermann-Ehlers Str.10, 53113 Bonn, Germany