UNCCD COP15 Side Event: AI-CD – Showcasing on-the-ground practices to combat desertification toward a prosperous and resilient Africa –

Announcement for the COP 15

UNCCD COP15 Side Event
AI-CD  – Showcasing on-the-ground practices to combat desertification toward a prosperous and resilient Africa – 

Date: Wednesday, 11th May, 2022
Time: 18:15 – 19:15 (GMT)
Place: MET-11, Sofitel Abidjan Hôtel Ivoire, Abidjan, Republic of Cote d’Ivoire

Co-organizers
– Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Kenya
– Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development of Senegal
– Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
– United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD)

 

Session Summary

Program and thematic focus

Since the launch of “African Initiative for Combating Desertification to Strengthen Resilience to Climate Change in the Sahel and Horn of Africa” or AI-CD at TICAD 6 in 2016 aiming to promote measures for combating desertification, significant progress has been made on the initiative with the ownership of the African countries and supports from partner organizations. In this side event, in consideration of the context of the UN Decade for Ecosystem Restoration and the theme of the COP15 “Land. Life. Legacy: from Scarcity to Prosperity”, on-the-ground practices for combating desertification will be introduced by AI-CD participating countries. Also, outcomes of AI-CD to today through its focused activities; networking, knowledge sharing and access to finance will be shared. Finally, ways to accelerate efforts to combat desertification and tackling the impacts of drought will be discussed.

 

Objectives

  • To share useful knowledge and on-the-ground practice in Africa as well as outcomes of AI-CD
  • To discuss the way forward for promoting measures and partnerships to address desertification and climate change effectively

Key Words: Ecosystem restoration, SDGs, knowledge-sharing, LDN, on-the-ground practices, participatory approach

 

Structure of the Program

  • Key note speeches from representatives of Co-organizers of AI-CD
  • Introduction to AI-CD, including the context of its establishment, challenges that the countries have faced such as drought, desertification, land degradation, and climate change, and the achievement of the initiative.
  • Panel discussion includes 1) presentation on on-the-ground good practices (i.e. useful knowledge and techniques, experience and lessons learnt) relating to combating desertification and 2) discussions. Discussions will highlight the way to accelerate efforts to combat desertification and tackle the impacts of drought towards the target year of SDGs and UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration; 2030. The expected topics are; inclusive and participatory governance, better knowledge sharing and its adoption on the ground, improved on-the ground practices, effective finance mobilization, the role of the private sector, and global and multi-sector partnerships.

 

Potential contribution to COP15

The side event is expected to significantly contribute to the success of COP15 by showcasing the concrete sustainable land restoration practices and its monitoring activities taken by AI-CD partner countries. These include political commitment, inclusive and participatory governance; effective techniques, useful tools and innovative approach, knowledge sharing, capacity building to achieve SDGs through combatting desertification in particular target 15.3.