On the occasion of its participation in the 14th Conference of the United Nations Convention Parties to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) held in New Delhi, India, from 2 to 13 September 2019, OSS hosted an information booth to welcome visitors and organized a side event on "Fight against Land Degradation, Needs for Monitoring and Required Funding".
During this meeting, which took place on September 12, the debate was initiated by an exchange of experiences of the OSS and its partners on two topics:
- Geospatial and Observation Technologies for land degradation monitoring
- Fight against desertification and drought through climate finance windows: OSS as a facilitator of direct access.
During the debates, the importance of Earth observation data as necessary for the monitoring of land degradation was stressed. It was also noted that these data can provide decision-makers and populations with relevant information on the state of resources and monitor the results and impacts of actions. As a facilitator of direct access to climate funds (OSS is a regional entity accredited to the Adaptation Fund and the Green Climate Fund), the OSS has also launched debates on opportunities and challenges related to financing sustainable land management and drought and desertification actions through climate funds. One of the points that were discussed was the lack of traditional financing and the new funding opportunities provided by the climate funds.
The OSS delegation, led by Mr. Khatim Kherraz, Executive Secretary, and including Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, Coordinator of the Environment Program and Ms. Khaoula Jaoui, Climate Finance and Natural Resources Management Expert, will also take part in various side events organized by OSS partners. In particular, it took part in the event organized by CARI which focused on the presentation of the results of the multi-use of water in arid zones session, which had been facilitated by OSS, represented by Mr. Nabil Ben Khatra, on the occasion of the international summit of the Civil Society DesertifActions, which took place on June 20, 2019 in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.