desertificazione

["AlessandroGimona"<agimona@libero.it>]

For media use only;
  not an official document

  PRESS RELEASE

  UN Conference calls for additional efforts to address
  desertification and drought worldwide

  Bonn, 5 December 2000 - "We are ready to see if progress has been 
achieved
  in combating desertification worldwide", said today Mr. Hama Arba 
Diallo,
  Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat
  Desertification (UNCCD), few days before the opening of the fourth 
session
  of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP-4), from 11-22 
December
  in Bonn, Germany.

  About 2,000 delegates from over 170 countries  are expected to arrive 
in
  Bonn to attend the Conference, including Heads of State and of 
Government,
  ministers, representatives of intergovernmental and non-governmental
  organizations, and the media.

  They will review programmes and policies elaborated and implemented at 
the
  national, sub-regional and regional levels by countries affected by
  desertification and drought in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the
  Caribbean, as well as in the Northern Mediterranean. They will further
  discuss results and difficulties encountered in this process, future
  initiatives and requirements needed to ensure success to this process.

  Developed country Parties, the United Nations and other international
  organizations will also report on initiatives taken in support of 
affected
  developing country Parties.

  Non-governmental organizations will participate and contribute their
  experience in particular through two specific sessions on the agenda 
of the
  Conference.

  Drought and desertification seriously threaten the livelihoods of over 
1.2
  billion people worldwide who depend on the land for most of their 
needs.
  They undermine the land productivity, and the populations'  wealth and
  health in over 110 countries.

  Todate, the number of Parties to the Convention has increased to 171,
  reflecting the growing importance assigned to this global phenomenon.
  Nothwistanding the financial difficulties, more than 80 reports have 
been
  submitted this year from affected country Parties for consideration at 
the
  COP-4.

  Over thirty National Action Programmes to combat desertification and
  mitigate the effects of drought have been elaborated and adopted. 
Activities
  are underway to strengthen collaboration also at the sub-regional, 
regional
  and interregional levels. Thematic Programme Networks are being 
launched in
  Asia and Africa to focus efforts on issues of particular relevance in 
the
  framework of policies to implement the UNCCD, such as water 
management,
  agroforestry, soil conservation, desertification monitoring and 
assessment,
  rangeland management and dune fixation, and others.

  "However, we note with increased concern that this process lacks the 
kind of
  support it is entitled to in terms of financial assistance from the
  international community for its timely and effective implementation", 
said
  Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, President of the 54th session of the United 
Nations
  General Assembly, and current Minister of Foreign Affairs of Namibia.

  "The amount raised to cover the needs of all African countries for the
  preparation of their national reports is equivalent to the grant that 
the
  Global Environmental Facility  allocates to one single country for its
  'enabling activities'. - he added - Furthermore, we have to underline 
that
  the UNCCD implementation cannot be conceived only in bilateral terms 
as it
  remains a multilateral instrument addressing the vital issue of 
sustainable
  development in arid ecosystems."

  The agenda of the Conference further includes review of the activities 
of
  the Global Mechanism, the institution in charge of channeling funds 
for the
  CCD implementation in affected developing countries, and the 
discussion on a
  declaration of commitments to enhance the implementation of the CCD.

  Specific attention will be devoted to the problems of Eastern and 
Central
  European countries, through the adoption of a specific "implementation
  annex", the fifth to the Convention, in addition to those for Africa, 
Asia,
  Latin America and the Caribbean, and the Northern Mediterranean.

  The subsidiary body of the Convention, the Committee on Science and
  Technology, will also meet during the first week .

  Over 35 parliamentarians from 25 countries will come to Bonn to 
further
  address the need for international support to the implementation of 
the
  UNCCD. They will gather from 12-13 December at the Third 
Interparliamentary
  Round Table.

  "Strengthened partnership and cooperation are essential for the 
successful
  implementation of the UNCCD," said Mr. Diallo.

          The Convention stresses the global dimension of 
desertification and
  calls for increased efforts towards the implementation of national,
  subregional and regional action programmes to combat desertification, 
and
  the promotion of sustainable development particularly in the dry lands 
of
  our planet.

          It is a legally binding instrument resulting from the Rio 
Conference
  on Environment and Development (1992).


  Note to journalists: For more information, please contact Rajeb 
Boulharouf
  at fax (49-228) 8152899, email rboulharouf@unccd.int , or Sonia 
Filippazzi
  at (+49-228) 8152807, email sfilippazzi@unccd.int. Information on the 
UNCCD
  is also available via the Internet at www.unccd.int


Alessandro Gimona
agimona@libero.it