The Convention
The international
community has long recognized that
desertification is a major economic,
social and environmental problem of
concern to many countries in all regions
of the world. In 1977, the United
Nations Conference on Desertification
(UNCOD) adopted a Plan of Action to
Combat Desertification (PACD). Unfortunately,
despite this and other efforts, the
United Nations Environment Programme
(UNEP) concluded in 1991 that the
problem of land degradation in arid,
semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas
had intensified, although there were
"local examples of success
As a result, the
question of how to tackle desertification
was still a major concern for the
United Nations Conference on Environment
and Development (UNCED), which was
held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The
Conference supported a new, integrated
approach to the problem, emphasizing
action to promote sustainable development
at the community level. It also called
on the United Nations General Assembly
to establish an Intergovernmental
Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare,
by June 1994, a Convention to Combat
Desertification, particularly in Africa.
In December 1992, the General Assembly
agreed and adopted resolution
47/188.
Working to a tight
schedule, the Committee completed
its negotiations in five sessions.
The Convention was adopted in Paris
on 17 June 1994 and opened for signature
there on 14-15 October 1994. It entered
into force on 26 December 1996, 90
days after the fiftieth ratification
was received. Over 179 countries were
Parties as at March 2002.
The Conference of
the Parties (COP), which is the Convention's
supreme governing body, held its first
session in October 1997 in Rome, Italy;
the second in December 1998 in Dakar,
Senegal; the third in November 1999
in Recife, Brazil; the fourth in December
2000 in Bonn, Germany; and the fifth
in October 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland.
As of 2001, COP sessions will be held
on a biennial basis.
Mandate
The permanent Secretariat
for the UNCCD was established by the
United Nations General Assembly to
assist the Intergovernmental Negotiating
Committee (INCD) in the negotiation
of the Convention and preparing for
the sessions of the Conference of
the Parties (COP). The permanent Secretariat
of the UNCCD is located in Haus Carstanjen,
Bonn, Germany since January 1999.
The functions of
the secretariat are to make arrangements
for sessions of the Conference of
the Parties (COP) and its subsidiary
bodies established under the Convention
and to provide them with services
as required. One key task of the secretariat
is to compile and transmit reports
submitted to it.
The secretariat also
provides assistance to affected developing
country Parties, particularly those
in Africa. This is important when
compiling information and reports
required under the Convention.
UNCCD activities
are coordinated with the secretariats
of other relevant international bodies
and conventions, like those of the
UN Framework Convention on Climate
Change (UNFCCC) and the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD).
Text of the United Nations
Convention to Combat Desertification
