17 June 2017: World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought has been observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relating to international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought.

In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared 17 June as the "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" to promote public awareness of the issue, and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa.

Parties to the Convention, organizations of the United Nations System, international and non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders have celebrated this particular day with a series of outreach activities worldwide.

The World Day to Combat Desertification is a unique occasion to remind everybody that desertification can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and co-operation at all levels.

The day aims to promote community and ecosystem resilience while improving the human condition particularly in dry lands. The decade 2010–2020 has been declared the United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight against Desertification (UNDDD).

The 2017 World Day to Combat Desertification (#2017WDCD) will examine the important link between land degradation and migration. Environmental degradation, political instability, food insecurity, and poverty are causes of migration and development challenges.

#2017WDCD will look at specific ways local communities can build resilience against current multi-fold development challenges through sustainable land management practices.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom (2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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