Origins and Background

The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), known as the Earth Summit and held in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), recommended the elaboration of a Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). Thus, negotiations for the convention began in early 1993 and on 17 June 1994 the convention was adopted in Paris. Entering into force in December 1996, it is a legally binding instrument that has been ratified by 159 countries and one regional economic integration organization as of October 1999. The convention entrusts an important role to actors of civil society in its implementation process.

The convention aims at combatting desertification and mitigating the effects of drought, in particular in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach for sustainable development.

The spirit and letter of the convention reflects the philosophy of participatory development. Action programmes to combat desertification are now to originate at the local level and be based on genuine local participation.

The convention is innovative in many ways, and its strength rests on its recognition of the following driving elements in any programme to combat desertification: popular participation; an integrated approach; partnership arrangements; coordination of funding; and national, subregional and regional action programmes.

The convention advocates consultative and participatory processes with local communities. It puts local communities on an equal footing with other actors in the development process. Communities and their leaders, as well as non-governmental organizations, experts and government officials work closely together to formulate action programmes.

The backbone and key to implementation of the convention lies in the national action programmes. Article 10 of the convention outlines the content of these programmes and section 2(f), in particular, stresses the importance of participation of NGOs in national action programmes.

The UNCCD Institutional Bodies

The Conference of the Parties (COP) oversees implementation of the convention. It was established by the convention as the supreme decision making body, and it comprises all country parties (and regional economic integration organizations, such as the European Union). The COP's third session was held in November 1999 in Recife (Brazil). It will continue to meet at least once a year until its fifth session. One of its main functions is to review reports on implementation of the convention. As the supreme policy formulation body, the COP is also entrusted with the authority to make amendments to the convention, such as the launching of negotiations for regional implementation annexes. To assist the COP deliver its mandate, the convention provides for the establishment of subsidiary bodies.

The COP is supported by a secretariat. Like other convention secretariats, it services the COP by arranging its meetings, preparing documents, coordinating with other relevant bodies, compiling and transmitting information, and facilitating consultations and other actions. Affected developing country parties and observers, such as non-governmental organizations, also rely on the secretariat for information, technical and/or financial support and advice, and for organizing, in addition to other activities, their national consultation processes and elaborating their national reports.

The Committee on Science and Technology advises the COP on scientific and technological matters. It identifies priorities for research and recommends ways of strengthening cooperation among researchers. It also advises on issues such as joint research programmes for new technologies. The COP has set up ad hoc panels to assist with specialized issues. The panels draw their members from a roster of government nominated experts.

A Global Mechanism was established at the first COP to promote funding for convention related activities and programmes. The Global Mechanism encourages and assists donors, recipients, development banks, non governmental organizations, and others to mobilize funds and channel them to where they are most needed. It seeks to promote greater coordination among existing sources of funding, and greater efficiency and effectiveness in the use of funds. The Global Mechanism, under the authority of the COP, is housed in the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome.

UNCCD Activities

Grassroot Level Activities:
The COP, through the UNCCD secretariat and other partner agencies, supports a number of activities to strengthen the role of non-governmental organizations, community based organizations and grassroot communities, particularly women, in implementation of the convention. These activities include; support to assist the coordination of non-governmental organizations at the national level in order to strengthen their contribution to the national action programme; capacity building and institutional support; pilot activities
support; and support to activities aimed at enhancing the capacity of communities to contribute to local area development in the context of the national action programme.

Non-governmental organizations also have a leading role during the official sessions of the Conference of Parties. The first Conference of Parties, through Decision 27, decided to include in the official work programme of the COP sessions at least two half-day open dialogue sessions organized by the NGO community. This gives an unprecedented and unique opportunity to the NGO community to address the UNCCD parties within the official forum of the conference.

National action programmes:
The Convention to Combat Desertification is being implemented through national action programmes. Donors and affected countries consult together on their respective roles in supporting these programmes, which must be developed with the full participation of local communities. As programmes need to be adapted to particular regional circumstances, most of the specific requirements for each region are described in the four regional implementation annexes for Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Northern Mediterranean.

The UNCCD secretariat also undertakes a number of thematic and preparatory workshops facilitating the preparation and implementation of national action programmes and reports.

The first stage of country reporting was undertaken at the COP's third session, with affected African countries reporting on the progress achieved and problems encountered in the elaboration of their national action programme.

Subregional and regional action programmes help harmonize and strengthen national programmes. They are designed through consultations among the affected countries of each region and sub-region. In addition to boosting the efficiency of national programmes, they can promote joint programmes for sustainable management of shared rivers and other cross-boundary ecosystems. They can also promote better cooperation among scientific and technical institutions or comparative pilot initiatives to test participatory processes for restoration of the agro-ecological balance.

NGO Relations

In accordance with Article 22, paragraph 7 of the convention and rule 7 of the rules of procedure of the Conference of Parties to the convention, non-governmental organizations are able to participate as observers in the work of the Conference of Parties.

While only national governments and economic integration organizations that ratify the convention can be Parties to the COP, other bodies and organizations can also participate. The convention however, gives an unprecedented role to the NGO community by ensuring that it participates as full partners in both the implementation process at the programme level and the policy formulation level in the sessions of the COP.

As of 1999, over 500 non-governmental organizations had received accredited status with the COP. Accreditation allows NGOs to attend all official meetings of the COP and to participate as equal partners in all implementation activities.

During negotiating sessions of the convention in 1993-1994, NGOs played a prominent role, and this is reflected in the innovative basic approach of the convention. At national, subregional and regional level NGOs are encouraged to assist other stakeholders, including national governments, by raising awareness of the problem of desertification and drought and acting as an effective link between the national level and local community level. Wherever possible, the secretariat provides resources for NGOs to undertake activities to raise awareness of the convention, particularly among local communities, and to implement projects aimed at strengthening the role of communities in implementation of programmes to combat desertification.

The UNCCD continues to strengthen the capacity of NGOs and local communities to combat land degradation, and it endeavours to encourage partnership building among all stakeholders at all levels.