Desertification and land degradation is a major problem which is now estimated to affect 15-20 % of the world’s poorest people. Since desertification is caused by complex interactions involving physical, biological, political, social, cultural and economic factors, the approach to combating desertification must be a broad-based one, which acknowledges the links between pressures on land and soils and the growth of employment and income in other parts of the economy, and which accepts that local populations posses a wealth of knowledge about their environments, upon which interventions can be based.
Desertification and land degradation is thus as much a development problem as it is an environmental one and interventions to combating the process must take account of these relationships. The Convention sets out these facts and experiences very clearly and concludes that a new and more effective approach is needed at all levels, within the framework of sustainable development. In mobilizing financial and technical support for implementing the Convention these conclusions provide the contextual backdrop against which the strategy must be developed. The Managing Director of the Global Mechanism has begun to develop an operational strategy. This strategy is intended as an effective framework for the Global Mechanism’s contribution to combating desertification.
The Convention itself, together with the decision of the first meeting of the Parties, contains more than forty points and sub-points outlining the tasks and functions of the GM. Analysis of this information resulted in eight points that seek to capture the essential tasks and functions of the GM, which are summarized as follows:
Partnership Building - One of the most crucial tasks facing the Global Mechanism during its first year of operations will be partnership building. The aim of forging as broad as possible a partnership-base with CCD consultative processes, UNDP, The World Bank, the Regional Development....
