The Global Risk Forum GRF Davos and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD signed a Memorandum of Understanding to enhance their cooperation in combating Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought DLDD.
The Global Risk Forum GRF Davos and the UNCCD enhance their cooperation to cope with DLDD as a major global threat to the development, stability and the well-being of present and future societies as well as to the ecosystems and goods and services that support them. The signed Memorandum of Understanding will provide the framework for this future collaboration.
Recorded video stream of the signing ceremony below:
Please find an extract of the MoU below :
Memorandum of Understanding
Article I: Purpose
The purpose of the present MoU is to provide a framework of cooperation and facilitate collaboration between the Parties, to cope with DLDD as a major global threat to the development, stability and the well-being of present and future societies as well as to the ecosystems and goods and services that support them.
Article II: Areas of Cooperation
The Parties agree to cooperate in areas of common interest, further to and within each Organization’s respective mandate, network and opportunities. The Parties undertake to cooperate through complementary efforts in areas where their networks, technical expertise and capacity development of both Parties demonstrate an added value and can significantly contribute to combat DLDD and support risk reduction. Areas of cooperation may include, but are not limited to:
• Initiating actions by fostering local governance and the empowerment of local communities to provide the fundamental elements for reducing the global risks of DLDD and its subsequent consequences;
• Enabling sustainable financial investments in specific DLDD projects, particularly at the local/regional level;
• Initiating and fostering an advocated action programme for sustainable investments for risk reduction in dryland areas, particularly (but not only) in developing countries;
• Supporting actions for the on-going implementation of the 10 Year Strategy (2008-2018) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (hereinafter referred to as “UNCCD”), geared to increase the political and societal will to effectively address DLDD;
• Targeting with an advocated dialogue governments and their institutions (both national and local), civil society, the business sector, educational centres, local producers and their communities, through acting on the sound, evidence-based science to corresponding risk-related international scenarios (climate, security, migration, etc.) in the drylands;
• Developing agendas of research applications and monitoring capacities in the field of DLDD;
• Promoting methodologies and best practices so as to develop and implement participatory and inclusive DLDD practices and policies;
• Facilitating knowledge management through enhanced collaboration towards building capacities for the access to data and information, as well as, disseminating technical expertise, training materials, and good practices;
• Forming joint campaigns and global initiatives with a view to resource mobilization, and the formulation of partnerships, including with actors from civil society and the private sector;
• Providing a common platform for advisory services and technical assistance, including exchange of information on sustainable development, education on combating DLDD, risk reduction, disaster management and human settlement policies and practices;
• Organizing consultations for the preparation of programmes, curricula and educational and technical materials on DLDD, risk reduction and environmental and social sustainability;
• Exchanging information and engaging in joint actions in the framework of the improvement of the resilience of ecological systems, and that of human resilience capacity facing DLDD and climate change; and
• Any other matter of mutual interest.
