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Statement of IFAD and the Global Mechanism of the UNCCD to the 61st session of the General Assembly
Madame Chairperson, It is my pleasure to address the Second Committee today on behalf of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Mechanism (GM) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as the Committee takes up item 53 (e) on the implementation of the Convention. As this is my first opportunity to address this Committee, please allow me to begin by offering you, Madame Chairperson and the other members of the Bureau, my congratulations on your election and my best wishes on guiding this Committee and its important work. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification came into force ten years ago. Today’s discussion provides a useful stocktaking of what has been achieved in the past decade and what must be done to expand existing efforts. During the past ten years, important progress has been made in developing institutional machinery, increasing awareness and understanding, capturing know-how, and mobilizing human and financial resources to combat desertification. In relation to the magnitude of the challenge, however, these efforts have fallen far short. Recognizing this, Heads of State and Government, at the 2005 World Summit, unanimously called for strengthening the implementation of UNCCD through “the mobilization of adequate and predictable financial resources, the transfer of technology and capacity building on all levels.” The Challenge Africa is especially susceptible to land degradation, which affects at least 485 million people or sixty-five percent of the entire African population. It is estimated that two-thirds of African land is already degraded to some degree and accounts for a three percent annual loss in agricultural GDP. It is in Africa that the link between poverty, land degradation, and desertification is the strongest. Global goals for poverty reduction and environmental goods, particularly in Africa, can be reached only if the problem of desertification is addressed in all its cross-sectoral complexity. Madame Chairperson, The challenges loom large, but there is momentum on which to build. IFAD, particularly through its collaboration with the Global Mechanism (GM) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is committed to expanding on this momentum to help bring to scale the response needed to achieve lasting results for the people living with the threat or the reality of desertification. Strengthening IFAD’s Implementation of the UNCCD IFAD’s unique position is further reinforced through its status as both a GEF Executing Agency and the host of the Global Mechanism. The hosting arrangement with the Global Mechanism has sharpened IFAD’s focus on land degradation. The collaboration has significantly increased resources for UNCCD implementation. IFAD’s partnership with GEF facilitates interventions that capitalize on the linkages between GEF strategic priorities and IFAD programmes and projects. For example, a pilot project targeting rural families in the Sertao region of Brazil focuses on sustainable land management practices using an integrated and cross-sectoral approach to poverty reduction that is consistent with the country's development priorities. The result strengthens both the priorities and the programmes and ensures maximum financial and ecological sustainability. IFAD’s expanding GEF portfolio is supporting activities that address local development needs and environmental concerns, while contributing to the achievement of global environmental goods. IFAD’s expanded focus on sustainable land management is reflected in increased resource flows, the mainstreaming of environmental activities into rural development projects, capturing and sharing knowledge, and activities to increase public awareness and understanding of the threat and challenge of desertification. Its approach, in collaboration with the GEF and GM, embraces the principles of the Monterrey Consensus and the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, particularly with respect to country ownership and measuring, monitoring, and managing for development results. With regard to funding, IFAD has invested over US$3.5 billion dollars in areas affected by land degradation. Approximately seven percent of IFAD’s lending programme is spent on land degradation activities that are directly linked to UNCCD National Action Programmes. The collaboration between IFAD and GM has been instrumental in leveraging additional funding from GEF and other co-financing sources for UNCCD-related projects. For projects in ten countries, IFAD’s US$ 117 million has been matched with US$ 101 million from co-financers, and US$ 45 million from GEF. This illustrates the added value of the Global Mechanism’s partnership with IFAD and GEF in mobilizing additional UNCCD-related resources. IFAD strongly affirms the role of the Global Mechanism in overall resource mobilization for implementation of the UNCCD. IFAD, in collaboration with GM, is working to better operationalize environmental concerns by integrating sustainable land management into its ongoing programmes. In so doing, IFAD enhances country ownership by aligning its results-oriented country strategies with national poverty reduction strategies and development plans. This approach is gaining momentum in the increasing cooperation of IFAD and the GM with other multilateral and bilateral institutions. IFAD’s Strategic Framework, which gives priority to natural resource issues, and its new operating model, which expands from a project focus to a country programme approach, provide further impetus to the integration of IFAD’s portfolio into national priorities. Continuing collaboration between IFAD and the Global Mechanism is expected to lead to further mainstreaming of UNCCD in IFAD programmes, better reporting of UNCCD-related activities, and learning from experience for effective replication and up-scaling. The issues of land tenure and land tenure rights are of great importance for the success of the joint IFAD/GM interventions, and the International Land Coalition (ILC) is supporting strategic work and advocacy on these issues. Most recently, IFAD, in collaboration with the GM, conducted a review of its portfolio to assess the extent to which its programmes and projects relate to UNCCD objectives. The review covered project design documents for 185 loans and 708 grants approved between 1999 and 2005. The aim of the review was threefold: 1) to document IFAD’s interventions relevant to the UNCCD, 2) to enhance the Fund’s support to the Convention, and 3) to encourage other development partners to undertake similar reviews with a view to further mainstreaming the objectives of UNCCD in their operations. A key output of the exercise is the development of a replicable methodology for reporting IFAD’s activities related to the UNCCD, at corporate, regional, and country levels for future monitoring of commitments. Though intended for IFAD’s use, the methodology can be easily adapted for use in other organizations. The review demonstrated IFAD’s growing support for UNCCD implementation. Between 2002 and 2004, the share of UNCCD-related projects in IFAD’s lending programme increased by twenty-one percent, from thirty-four to fifty-five percent. In observance of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification (IYDD), IFAD and the Global Mechanism undertook a number of education and outreach initiatives. Of particular note, our two organizations -- in cooperation with other partners -- co-financed the production of a series of eight BBC documentaries, called “Villages on the Front-Line” which illustrated promising strategies for coping with the causes of land degradation in eights parts of the world. The documentaries are airing this month and next. The Beijing International Conference on Women and Desertification was an especially important IYDD event. We support the comprehensive set of recommendations adopted at the conference and encourage their timely implementation. IFAD’s experience provides insights that encourage broader and more significant support for the commitments made in the UNCCD to strengthen the roles of women at all levels of implementation of the Convention. Efforts to reduce poverty, decrease women’s workloads, and introduce technologies to promote sustainable management of land and water resources have benefited from recognition of women’s unique capabilities and their role as the main providers of food security for their families. Lessons from IFAD-supported projects are captured in a publication on Gender and Desertification that is made available in the back of the room. Looking Ahead Madame Chairperson, As the UNCCD enters its second decade, efforts to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought are more urgent than ever. The Conference of Parties at its seventh session (COP-7) decided to establish an inter-sessional, intergovernmental working group to develop a ten-year strategic plan and framework to enhance implementation of UNCCD. It is essential that this strategy builds on the experience and insights gained over the past decade and takes into account many of the lessons learned since the adoption of UNCCD. The recent portfolio review carried out by IFAD in collaboration with the Global Mechanism yielded useful insights that should be taken into account when developing the ten-year strategy: 1. Mainstreaming. UNCCD objectives need to be mainstreamed in national and regional development and poverty reduction strategies. Promoting wider use of Strategic Environmental Assessments could serve as an important tool to strengthen the mainstreaming of UNCCD objectives and environmental issues into policies, programmes, and plans. 2. Enhancing country ownership. The mainstreaming of sustainable land management at the country level needs to include a strengthening of the voice and capacity of affected communities and ensuring that their engagement is sustained over the long term. IFAD’s experience shows that the institutions dealing with agriculture and rural development have important roles to play with regard to implementation of the UNCCD National Action Plans. 3. The nexus of desertification and vulnerability. There is a need to better understand the interrelationship of desertification and vulnerability. It is important to pay attention to cause rather than effect by identifying the underlying drivers that trigger desertification. The development and dissemination of lessons learned and guidance on sustainable land management issues would help to improve efforts to address the nexus between poverty and environment. 4. Capturing synergies. Much more needs to be done to promote synergies between relevant national strategic frameworks and the Rio Conventions. In the next ten years, priority should be given to collaborative efforts by a broad range of institutional stakeholders to further enable countries to identify and build on such synergies. 5. Monitoring. UNCCD reporting could be improved through guidelines regarding how to address the Convention’s broad scope of desertification-related activities in relation to the specific definition of the areas in which these interventions are eligible to be considered as relevant to UNCCD objectives. Guidelines for mainstreaming UNCCD reporting are also needed. Madame Chairperson, The UNCCD’s emphasis on grassroots and community level initiatives sets it apart from other international treaties. It recognizes that the rural poor are producers and stewards of the environment and that they are on the front line of the nexus of development and the environment. The role of national governments, donors, development agencies is to identify partnerships and mobilize resources to link the rural poor with the tools they need to prosper – such as secure access to land and water, microfinance, technology, and markets. If this is accomplished, then we can expect to see a significant and sustainable reduction of poverty in our lifetime. We will enable the rural poor to build lives characterized by dignity instead of deprivation. Both IFAD and the Global Mechanism are committed to the UNCCD and we look forward to continuing to work with all of our partners toward the achievement of the goals of the Convention. Thank you.
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