17th Forum of the Environment Ministers of Latin America and the Caribbean
26 April, 2010 - 30 April, 2010
Panama City, Panama
Desertification, land degradation and the effects of drought (DLDD) have a detrimental impact on rural communities in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), compromising productivity and the quality of life. While the scope and scale of desertification varies from country to country and indeed within countries, by the same token there are multiple opportunities to tackle the problem effectively.
The 16th Forum of the Ministers of Environment held in the Dominican Republic in January 2008 acknowledged the need to adopt a synergistic and systemic, region-wide approach in the struggle against desertification and the effects of the drought. This was a landmark decision as it raised the importance of DLDD on the international political arena and positioned the UNCCD as a major player in region-wide efforts to improve rural livelihoods through sustainable land management (SLM).
Through Decision 16 - specifically on sustainable lend management - the Ministers of Environment requested that the Interagency Technical Committee (ITC) comprising the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) The World Bank and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as the Secretariat of the Forum of Environment Ministers), in coordination with the Global Mechanism (GM), [...] “prepare a regional proposal, including specific actions and modalities to facilitate and increase the flow of financial resources for UNCCD implementation at national, subregional and regional levels, consistent with the UNCCD’s 10-year Strategy”.
On this basis, the GM has prepared a draft regional integrated financing strategy (RIFS) that has been reviewed together with the ITC and will now be presented to the 17th Forum of Ministers to be held in Panama City from 26-30 April, for its approval.
For more information:
Mr Alejandro Kilpatrick, Programme Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean and the Climate Change Finance Programme
Tel. +39 06 5459 2524
a.kilpatrick (at) global-mechanism.org