The nearly 200 countries gathered at the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and committed to prioritising land restoration and drought resilience in national policies and international cooperation as an essential strategy for food security and climate adaptation. While parties failed to...
People around the world are facing devastating consequences as the land that supports livelihoods, helps to regulate climate and protect biodiversity becomes increasingly degraded due to climate change and mismanagement. The UN Convention to Combat Desertification is meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to discuss how to regenerate the land and...
As COP16 wraps up its global biodiversity meeting in Colombia this week, we are taking you to a frontline in the battle against climate change, where for centuries the Wayúu have navigated challenges in one the world’s most inhospitable environments. When traditional knowledge meets agrobiodiversity, a term for adopting farming practices that...
In an appeal for help, the World Food Programme, WFP, said that more than 27 million people’s lives from Lesotho to Zimbabwe have been devastated, leaving 21 million children malnourished. A record five countries have declared a national disaster because of the drought and requested international assistance: Lesotho, Malawi, Namibia,...
Greater investments in meteorological monitoring, data collection and risk assessment can help respond quickly to drought emergencies and minimize impacts, it said, calling also for international cooperation, knowledge sharing, and environmental and social justice. Snapshots The publication includes important drought data, including on geographic spread, agriculture and forests, water conditions,...
A global approach to tackle the ongoing water crisis is needed as vulnerable communities in the United States face historic deluge and drought – issues very much in the spotlight at the forthcoming UN-supported World Water Week. Traditional totems tower over the coastal village of Taholah in Washington state, home to...
The unpaved road to the village is bumpy and sandy. For people living here, however, the path and the intense heat are part of daily life. High temperatures have not stopped Foureyratou Saidou, a single mother of four and recent widow, from tending to the community garden next to the...
“Equal land rights both protect land and advance gender equality,” UN Secretary-General António Guterres said, in a video message, urging all governments to eliminate legal barriers to women owning land, and to involve them in policy making. “We depend on land for our survival, yet we treat it like dirt,”...
Somalia is in the midst of the longest and most severe drought in its history, following five consecutive poor rainy seasons, which has devastated the country. Roughly 8.25 million people, nearly half the population, require immediate lifesaving aid and protection. Lives on the line They warn that famine is a...
“I have never experienced a drought as bad as this in my life”, 28-year-old Akure Ewar told UNFPA. At seven months pregnant, she complains that she is hungry and often feels dizzy when going about her day. “The dry seasons have been progressively getting worse over the last three years,...
Around 20.2 million children are under threat of severe hunger, thirst and disease – compared to 10 million in July – as climate change, conflict, global inflation and grain shortages devastate the region. “While collective and accelerated efforts have mitigated some of the worst impact of what had been feared,...
An estimated 24,000 people have arrived at the camp complex since the end of September, some of the more than 80,000 taken in there during the past two years, according to UNHCR spokesperson Boris Cheshirkov. He told journalists in Geneva that despite a recent drop in the pace of daily...