Managing Director addresses COP.8
5 September, 2007
On 5 September, Christian Mersmann, the GM’s Managing Director, addressed the 8th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD (COP.8), introducing the report on the GM’s activities since COP.7 and discussing the way ahead in the context of the Convention’s proposed 10-year Strategy.
The UNCCD is at a critical crossroads, Mr Mersmann said, and the Strategy is timely in that it renews optimism in comprehensive policy frameworks and enhanced programme development to upscale finance for sustainable land management (SLM) and to advance an integrated response to socio-economic development challenges.
Mr Mersmann views the UNCCD as a major international instrument for reducing poverty and fostering economic growth through SLM. He sees the Strategy as instrumental in bridging the political and strategic divide that has often fettered the Convention and in increasing a common understanding of the UNCCD’s potential. The GM welcomes the Strategy’s recommendations and believes that its Consolidated Strategy and Enhanced Approach, results-based management system and logical framework are well aligned with the draft UNCCD’s 10-year Strategy.
The Managing Director highlighted how upscaling finance for SLM requires a comprehensive, coordinated and integrated approach to resource mobilization and a blend of public and private resources, including domestic resources, official development assistance and new and innovative sources of financing. Indeed, the GM has designed its strategic programmes to support the mobilization of finance, including from sectors that have previously been less involved in UNCCD implementation.
He went on to explain how the GM works in close partnership with governments and development partners with the aim of making land management a development priority for the governments of affected countries. Success depends on integrating the Convention into national development programming – a consultative process involving a broad range of stakeholders, which the GM is currently undertaking in 33 countries.
Addressing the issue of how such a lean institution as the GM can service the largest possible number of countries, Mr Mersmann stressed the growing importance of advocacy, knowledge exchange and capacity-building activities and of increasing mutual understanding of the most effective instruments and approaches to resource mobilization at the sub-regional and regional levels, with a view to inducing change at the country level. The GM also has to work flexibly and cost-effectively by engaging in ongoing processes and joining partnerships. One major dimension of the GM’s work is co-finance, in which the Global Environment Facility’s Strategic Investment Programme (SIP) is an important locomotive.
Mr Mersmann concluded by thanking donors for their continued trust in the GM’s strategy and their confidence in its operating modalities and expertise. He welcomed the conference host, the Government of Spain, for having recently extended its support to the GM.
Comments from the floor commended the GM for its work and achievements, while calling for enhanced coordination and cooperation between the GM and the Secretariat to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of UNCCD implementation.
Download the full statement (PDF English | French | Spanish)
Download the GM's Report to the Session (PDF, English, 172 Kb)
Download the draft 10-year Strategy (PDF, English, 207 Kb)