A high-level meeting in Geneva coming to a close today is seen as a success. Government and development leaders have agreed to encourage governments to develop and implement national drought management policies. But this is only the beginning of a more rigorous process.
Drought affects food security and sometimes leads to unrest. Despite its predictability, there remains a huge gap in the way the aid community addresses it, suggested the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, who spoke to Devex ahead of today’s closing of the U.N.-organized high-level meeting on national drought policy.
UNCCD plans to drum up attention to land management, with the goal of pushing for its inclusion in the post-2015 development agenda. The convention has a number of influential “drylands ambassadors”: economist Jeffrey Sachs, South African singer Deborah Fraser and Spanish football player Carlos Marchena. Pedro Verona Rodrigues Pires, a former president of Cape Verde, and Princess Basma bint Ali of Jordan are also expected to come on board this year.
Read more at devex
