Desertification and Drought Day

The Desertification and Drought Day – until this year known as The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is a United Nations observance day held on 17 June each year.

Desertification and Drought Day was officially declared by the UN General Assembly as “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" (The resolution A/RES/49/115). 

It aims to promote public awareness of international efforts to combat desertification. The day is a unique moment to remind everyone that land degradation neutrality is achievable through problem-solving, strong community involvement and cooperation at all levels.

Desertification

Desertification is the degradation of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas. It is caused primarily by human activities and climatic variations. Desertification does not refer to the expansion of existing deserts. It occurs because dryland ecosystems, which cover over one third of the world's land area, are extremely vulnerable to overexploitation and inappropriate land use. Poverty, political instability, deforestation, overgrazing and bad irrigation practices can all undermine the productivity of the land.

2023 Theme: Her Land. Her Rights.

Women hold a vital stake in the health of the land, yet they often don't have control over it. In all parts of the world, women face significant barriers in securing land rights, limiting their ability to thrive and prosper. And when land becomes degraded and water is scarce, women are often the worst affected. Investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity. It's time for women and girls to be at the forefront of global land restoration and drought resilience efforts. 

The global focus for the 2023 Desertification and Drought Day is on women’s land rights— essential for achieving the interconnected global goals on gender equality and land degradation neutrality by 2030 and contributing to the advancement of several other Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  

According to UNCCD’s landmark study “The Differentiated Impacts of Desertification, Land Degradation and Drought on Women and Men,” gender equality remains unfinished business in every part of the world. Consider the following: 

• Today, nearly half of the global agricultural workforce is female – yet less than one in five landholders worldwide are women. 
• Women’s rights to inherit their husband’s property continue to be denied in over 100 countries under customary, religious, or traditional laws and practices. 
• Globally, women already spend a collective 200 million hours every day collecting water. In some countries, a single trip to fetch water can take over an hour. 

Key messages

• Desertification, land degradation and drought disproportionately impact women and girls, as they often do not have access to and control of land resources. They are most affected by reduced agricultural yields and increased water scarcity.
• In the vast majority of countries, women have unequal and limited access and control to land. In many regions, they remain subject to discriminatory laws and practices that impede their right to inherit, as well as their access to services and resources.
• When women are empowered, entire families and communities benefit. In addition to being on the frontlines of land degradation and climate change impacts, women can also be at the forefront of global efforts to restore land back to health and boost drought resilience. Gender-responsive land restoration is a pathway to reduce poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.
• Investing in women’s equal access to land and associated assets is a direct investment in their future and the future of humanity. Securing women's land rights can help advance global gender equality and land restoration goals, and contribute to the achievement of broader Sustainable Development Goals.
• Raise awareness of the disproportionate impact of desertification, land degradation and drought on women and girls and the barriers they face in decision-making on land issues;
• Highlight women's contributions to sustainable land management and broader SDGs;
• Mobilize global support to advance land rights for women and girls around the world. 

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Convention addresses specifically the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas, known as the drylands, where some of the most vulnerable ecosystems and peoples can be found.

The new UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework is the most comprehensive global commitment to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) in order to restore the productivity of vast expanses of degraded land, improve the livelihoods of more than 1.3 billion people, and reduce the impacts of drought on vulnerable populations to build a future that avoids, minimizes, and reverses desertification/land degradation and mitigates the effects of drought in affected areas at all levels ... to achieve a land degradation-neutral world consistent with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Source: United Nations