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The GM’s approach and its country level activities were the subject of a dynamic discussion between GM staff and UNCCD country Parties during the GM corporate side event on the margins of COP 9 on September 22 in Buenos Aires.

Opening the event, Ms Elisabeth Barsk-Rundquist, Director of Strategic Programmes, explained in detail how the GM is responding to the UNCCD Ten-Year Strategy and its key role in and responsibility for the Operational Objective 5 on finance and technology transfer. The GM is increasing its support for UNCCD implementation at the national level: 64% of its 2010-2011 budget is dedicated to providing direct country support for sustainable land management (SLM) financing.

“COP 9, will have the opportunity to exercise increased oversight over the GM’s Programme of Work and Budget and in monitoring of the Joint Work Programme through the newly instituted result based management system” said Ms. Barsk-Rundquist. “This, in turn, offers a new level of transparency of planned outputs, avoiding overlaps and duplication of work with the secretariat and other international partners.”

In the ensuing interactive dialogue between country Parties and the GM, a number of key issues were raised, including that of the complimentary role of the integrated financing strategy (IFSs) – the GM’s core product – and the UNCCD National Action Programmes (NAPs). By way of clarification, the GM’s Managing Director, Christian Mersmann, highlighted the IFS as a substantive contribution towards the alignment of NAPs, in addition to its primary role of guiding the process leading to an Integrated Investment Framework, as called for by the Ten-Year Strategy.

Mr Alejandro Kilpatrick, the GM’s Climate Change Finance Programme Coordinator, drew attention to the identification of SLM finance from climate change mechanisms at national, subregional and international levels as a fundamental element of the GM’s IFS approach. The GM’s successful cooperation with its host organization, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), provides an excellent example of the GM’s influence on donor resource allocation in this context. This cooperation has led to the mainstreaming of SLM/climate change issues into IFAD’s Country Strategic Opportunities (COSOP) Paper for Viet Nam, leading to substantive investment into the rehabilitation of degraded land.

The GM engages in climate change dialogue and activities at both national and subregional levels, leading to increased finance by ensuring that SLM related issues are included in the broader debate. The GM’s cooperation and partnership with the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC) provide examples in this regard.

With the intention of enhancing country Parties’ capacity to access innovative sources of finance for the implementation of the Convention, the GM is in the process of developing a specific module on climate change for the Designing Integrated Financing Strategy (DIFS) knowledge exchange programme. The GM is currently engaged in supporting 30 countries in all regions, and has substantially increased its subregional support through the DIFS knowledge exchange programmes, in which some 90 country Parties have participated to date.

The GM looks forward to further guidance from country Parties, leading to enhanced transparency and increased impact at the country level with regard to the mobilization of financial resources for UNCCD implementation.