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HANDBOOK

Role of Parliamentarians in the implementation

process of the UN Convention to Combat

Desertification

A guide to Parliamentary Action

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Bonn Germany.

ISBN 978-92-95043-69-5

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Role of Parliamentarians in the

implementation process of the UN

Convention to Combat Desertification

A guide to Parliamentary Action

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ii.

Acknowledgement

............................................................................... 3

Foreword

.................................................................................................. 4

executive SummAry

............................................................................. 5

introduction

......................................................................................... 7

Content and aims of this guide ................................................................. 9

Rationale for co-operation between

parliaments and relevant international organizations:

different roles but convergent objectives .................................................. 10

chAllengeS And deFinitionS

............................................................ 11

Major global challenges ............................................................................... 11

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD) ...................................................................................................... 12

Thematic priorities ..................................................................................... 17

The Parliamentary Round Tables and the Network

on the UNCCD ........................................................................................... 21

role And reSponSiBilitieS oF democrAtic

pArliAmentS And their memBerS

.............................................. 23

Democracy – a universal value and a model, essential

for sustainable human development ........................................................ 23

Functions and roles of a parliament ........................................................ 24

AreAS in which pArliAmentS And

pArliAmentAriAnS cAn Actively contriBute

to the implementAtion oF the

unccd And the 10-yeAr StrAtegy

................................................ 26

Law-making .............................................................................................. 27

Budget allocation ....................................................................................... 28

Oversight .................................................................................................. 29

Debating issues of national and international

moment – Awareness raising .................................................................. 30

Election of competent personalities and bodies .................................... 32

International cooperation and networking ............................................. 32

outlook

................................................................................................... 36

AnnexeS

..................................................................................................... 37

ii.

iii.

iv.

iii.

ii.

iv.

ii.

iii.

iv.

vi.

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A. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertification (UNCCD) is grateful to Prof. Uwe Holtz who authored

this handbook. This document aims at providing information on how

parliamentarians can better contribute to the activities of the UNCCD

at a time there is a worldwide recognition of the potential of land to

contribute to efforts to address today’s global environmental challenges

including combating desertification/land degradation and the effects of

drought; climate change adaptation and mitigation as well as the loss of

biodiversity.

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FOrEWOrD

Addressing desertification, land and degradation and drought (DLDD) contributes

to human security and sustainable development. We shall not adapt to climate

change without a sound stewardship of land and soil of this planet. We shall

not protect and preserve the terrestrial biodiversity without addressing DLDD.

Likewise the Millennium Development Goals will not be fully achieved, if we are

not able to improve the livelihoods of one billion people living in the drylands and

ecosystems affected by DLDD.

Decision and policy makers at government level do have the lead role in

the implementation process of the United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertification (UNCCD) and for achieving the objectives of the UNCCD Ten-

Year Strategy (2008-2018). However, success often depends on the active role of

many other national players including parliamentarians.

Since the inception of the UNCCD, Parliamentarians have played important role

in the activities of the Convention nationally, regionally and at international levels.

This publication aims at providing specific information on how Parliamentarians

could enhance their actions to support the implementation of the UNCCD. The

handbook provides important information on the role of parliamentarians and

how they can better support, promote and stimulate adequate actions to implement

the UNCCD.

The handbook underlines the close relationship between the responsibilities of

Parties and those of parliamentarians in the context of the UNCCD. It also explores

ways and means for a stronger partnership through the establishment of direct

dialogue sessions on the occasion of the UNCCD Conference of the Parties.

While the handbook primarily addresses parliamentarians, it is expected that it will

contribute to the vision of UNCCD Parties to forge a global partnership to reverse

and prevent DLDD to support poverty reduction and environmental sustainability.

Luc Gnacadja

Executive Secretary UNCCD

Dr. Haroun Kabadi

President of the Steering Committee

and President of the Chad National

Assembly

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EXECUTIVE SUMMArY

Major global challenges such as desertification, land degradation and

drought (DLDD), climate change and the loss of biodiversity constitute

challenges for people, democracies and all political systems worldwide.

Global efforts to halt and reverse land degradation and to strive for zero

net land degradation are prerequisites for freeing hundreds of millions of

people from poverty, enabling food security, safeguarding water supplies,

and achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as well as

Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The most important instrument

for combating desertification/land degradation is the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD).

How do parliaments contribute to the implementation of the

UNCCD? What are the challenges to be addressed by parliaments and

parliamentarians to better fulfil their mission? How and in which areas

can parliamentary support be better mobilized? This handbook provides

a basis to find answers to these questions.

Pursuant to the outcome of the Rio+20 Conference, this handbook aims

to raise desertification and land degradation to a higher political level of

priority on national and global agendas and to draw attention of law- and

decision-makers. It provides information on the role and functions of

parliaments and their members, and how they can better support and

promote the UNCCD process and its 10-year Strategy (2008-2018).

The core of the ‘guide to parliamentary action’ delivers proposals and

orientations in line with the ‘parliamentary hexagon’, which identifies

the following six main areas of intervention for parliaments and

parliamentarians with the aim to mobilize stronger parliamentary

support for the implementation of the UNCCD:

Law-making and setting standards (inter alia mainstream combating

desertification/land degradation into the relevant national policy

areas);

Budget allocation (i.a. provide adequate financial resources);

Oversight and control (i.a. monitor and evaluate whether the

UNCCD objectives are met);

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Public discourse and awareness raising (i.e. carry out “land-

degradation neutrality” campaigns) and continuous advocacy on the

UNCCD;

Election of competent personalities and bodies (i.e. establish national

coordinating bodies with the involvement of parliamentarians;

International cooperation and better use of the Parliamentary

Network on UNCCD (i.e. work towards making the UNCCD a

global authority on land and soil).

The many options for parliamentary support in implementing the

UNCCD are not intended to offer ‘one-size-fits-all’ solutions; instead,

actions should be taken on a case-by-case basis, acknowledging that most

of the implementation is happening on the ground.

It is of utmost importance that parliaments and members of parliaments

(MPs) across the globe join forces in order to strengthen the momentum

for UNCCD and the vision of a land-degradation neutral world. They

should foster cooperation with like-minded partners and build alliances

with all stakeholders involved with land and soil in particular and on

sustainable, human development in general. They also need relevant

documentation, technical assistance and advisory services.

The annex includes documents on UNCCD’s 10-year Strategy, outcomes

of the Rio+20 as they relate to DLDD and the work of the UNCCD

Parliamentary Round Tables.

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INTRODUCTION

On the occasion of the World Day to Combat Desertification (17 June

2012) and on the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio+20 Conference, 20-22 June 2012), UN Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon sent the following message to call on decision-

makers worldwide

“Global efforts to halt and reverse land degradation are integral to creating

the future we want. Sustainable land use is a prerequisite for lifting billions

from poverty, enabling food and nutrition security, and safeguarding water

supplies. It is a cornerstone of sustainable development. The people who

live in the world’s arid lands, which occupy more than 40 per cent of our

planet’s land area, are among the poorest and most vulnerable to hunger.

We will not achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015 without

preserving the soils on which their subsistence depends. Nor will we be able

to guarantee our freshwater resources, 70 per cent of which are already used

for agriculture. By 2030 the demand for water is projected to rise by 35

per cent. Unless we change our land-use practices, we face the prospect of

diminishing and inadequate water supplies, as well as more frequent and

intense droughts. Further, by 2050, we will need sufficient productive land

to feed an estimated 9 billion people with per capita consumption levels

greater than those of today. This will be impossible if soil loss continues

at its current pace – an annual loss of 75 billion tons. Important land-

use decisions need to be made. (…) Without healthy soil, life on Earth is

unsustainable.”

Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity,

were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development

during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. 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.

In the 10-year Strategy of the UNCCD (2008-2018), Parties to the

Convention agreed “to forge a global partnership to reverse and prevent

desertification/land degradation and to mitigate the effects of drought in

The complete text can be found at www.un.org/en/events/desertificationday/2012/

sgmessage.shtml (retrieved 26 November 2012, as all the following URLs).

Cf. www.unccd.int/en/about-the-convention/Pages/About-the-Convention.aspx

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affected areas in order to support poverty reduction and environmental

sustainability.”

Partnership lies at the heart of the UNCCD, casting resource users and

their communities as central to the solution rather than part of the

problem. This approach recognizes the interdependence of drylands and

other world eco-systems.

Country Parties to the UNCCD have the lead role in implementing

the Convention and reaching the objectives of the 10-year Strategy.

However, success often depends on, or is significantly supported by, the

actions of specific stakeholder groups, among them parliaments and

parliamentarians.

During the past several years, parliaments have played a relevant role

in the management of public affairs as a result of the drive towards

democratization and good governance. The fact that out of the some 200

states in the world today, some 190 currently have a parliament indicates

their growing importance.

Parliaments are increasingly recognized as

playing a crucial role in the management of the affairs of society both

nationally and internationally.

www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/10YearStrategy/Decision%20COP8%20

adoption%20of%20The%20Strategy.pdf

www.unccd.int/en/Stakeholders/Pages/home.aspx

Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) / United Nations Development Programme

(UNDP) (2012): Global Parliamentary Report. The changing nature of parliamentary

representation (Lead author: Greg Power), Geneva and New York – also available at

www.ipu.org/pdf/publications/gpr2012-full-e.pdf, p. 4: “190 of 193 countries now have

some form of functioning parliament, accounting for over 46,000 representatives. The

existence of a parliament is not synonymous with democracy, but democracy cannot

exist without a parliament. Although varying hugely in power, influence and function,

almost every political system now has some form of representative assembly.”

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Content and aim of this guide

The handbook

has been prepared for use by parliaments and their

members. It provides basic information on the role of parliaments, how

they can be better engaged in supporting and promoting the UNCCD

and its 10-year Strategy, and how they can stimulate adequate actions at

national and international levels.

This guide also illustrates how parliamentarians can better interact with

each other and how parliaments and the UNCCD secretariat can closely

cooperate to better fulfil their respective missions.

The guide aims to give higher priority to land degradation and UNCCD

issues on global and national agendas and to draw the attention of law-

and decision-makers. Parliaments and their members are often looking

for ways and instruments to move desertification, land degradation and

soil erosion higher on the national agenda.

Although there are some encouraging examples where parliamentarians

played a positive role in promoting the UNCCD implementation process,

their role at international level has generally been rather limited so far.

Parliaments must do their utmost to strengthen the political will that is

essential for the successful implementation of the UNCCD and the 10-

year Strategy. They can push the boundaries of what can be achieved

politically, and also develop new ideas without the constraints of

formal government negotiating positions: for example, they can create

parliamentary oversight mechanisms vis-à-vis the Global Environment

Facility or the Green Climate Fund. The specific commitments made by

The handbook follows the example of: IPU / United Nations Office of the High

Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries

and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) (2009): Mobilizing parliamentary

support for the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries,

Geneva (www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/LDC09_en.pdf). See also IPU (2006):

Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century. A guide to good practice

(written and edited by David Beetham), Geneva (www.ipu.org/PDF/publications/

democracy_en.pdf).

U. Holtz (2007): Implementing the United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertification from a parliamentary point of view. Critical assessment and challenges

ahead, Bonn, pp. 24–26 (www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/Parliament/2007/

parliamentariansforum.pdf).

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the parliamentarians involved in the previous UNCCD Parliamentary

Round Tables need to be followed up, particularly at national level.

ii. rational for Co-operation between Parliaments and relevant

International Organizations: Different roles but convergent

objectives

The respective roles of parliaments and international organisations are

clearly distinct.

International organisations are set up to help countries

addressing issues of international concern. Often, parliaments are absent

from global forums at which decisions are negotiated and adopted.

When these decisions are brought to the national level, parliaments have

limited leeway and usually are placed before a fait accompli. Therefore

parliaments should be involved in the process of negotiating and adopting

decisions at the global level, so as to bring in the voice of the people and

facilitate the implementation of internationally negotiated decisions

at the national level. Nothing refrains a country from having MPs as

members of their national delegations at negotiation sessions, including

for UNCCD negotiation processes. Parliaments are being called upon to

play a role in the management of global challenges to provide legitimacy

to the international decision-making process. In this connection, greater

demands for transparency and accountability in the management of

international affairs, including of those organisations that have been

set up for this purpose, call for greater involvement of parliaments in

international processes.

International organisations have a major interest in involving parliaments

in their activities mainly because these organisations are usually funded

from public resources which are allocated by and/or with the authorization

of parliaments. It is the parliament that is responsible for laying down

the legal framework within which society functions. It is in the interest

of international organisations, therefore, to engage parliaments in a

partnership which ensures that parliaments take budgetary and other

legislative decisions that allow these organisations to carry out their

programmes. On the other hand, parliaments have an interest in working

with international organisations insofar as the latter can contribute to the

improvement of the living conditions of the people they represent. The

For this sub-chapter, see IPU / UN-OHRLLS (2009), pp. 11-12.

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mutual advantages of such an alliance are therefore both political and

material.

In the case of the Parties to the UNCCD and its secretariat in particular

,they have a close-up view of developments at the national level and

want to assist countries in fulfilling their commitments. They regard

parliaments as key partners in that effort and support the organization

of the Parliamentary Round Tables meeting in parallel to the UNCCD

Conference of the Parties. The interactions between the parliamentarians

and the Parties can, however, be further improved through dialogue

sessions to be held during the COP negotiations.

II.

CHALLENGES AND DEFINITIONS

Major global challenges

Major global challenges for democracies and all political systems, include

problems related inter alia to sustainable development, climate change,

desertification, drought, poverty, energy, food security, water scarcity and

quality, decreasing natural resources due to land degradation population

dynamics, health, gender relations, financial and economic turbulences

and crises, organized crime, war and peace, and last but not least human

rights and democratization.

International conferences and a variety of documents outlined some

responses and orientations that are seeking to overcome – or at least to

mitigate – the problems. The United Nations Conference on Sustainable

Development (Rio, 2012), more popularly known as Rio+20, paved the

way for further work on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The

Outcome Document, entitled “The Future We Want”, recognized that

desertification, land degradation and drought are challenges of a global

Cf. the Millennium Project, founded in 1996. It is an independent non-profit global

participatory futures research think tank of futurists, scholars, business planners, and

policy makers who work for international organisations, governments, corporations,

NGOs, and universities. The work is distilled in its annual “State of the Future”

where 15 challenges are identified – from sustainable development to global ethics.

The challenges are transnational in nature and transinstitutional in solution; they are

interdependent: an improvement in one makes it easier to address others; deterioration

in one makes it harder to address others. Arguing whether one is more important than

another is like arguing that the human nervous system is more important than the

respiratory system. (see www.millennium-project.org/millennium/challenges.html).

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dimension and continue to pose serious challenges to the sustainable

development of all countries, in particular developing countries. It

stressed the particular challenges this poses to the least developed

countries and the landlocked developing countries, especially in Africa.

ii. UNCCD

In 1992, the Rio Conference called on the United Nations General

Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee

(INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat

Desertification, particularly in Africa. The United Nations Convention

to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) was adopted in Paris on 17 June

1994 and entered into force on 26 December 1996, 90 days after the

50th ratification was received.

194 countries and the European Union

are Parties as at May 2012. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which

is the Convention’s supreme governing body, held its first session in

October 1997 in Rome, Italy. So far, the COP has had ten ordinary and

one extraordinary sessions, the latest of which (COP 10) took place in

Changwon, the Republic of Korea, in October 2011.

Since 1999, the secretariat of the Convention has been located in Bonn

(Germany) on the Rhine River. In line with Article 23 of the UNCCD, the

key function of the secretariat is to service the sessions of the COP and

its subsidiary bodies. This includes a multitude of tasks, ranging from the

preparation of substantive documentation to logistical arrangements for

the sessions.

The UNCCD with its five regional implementation annexes – for Africa

(Annex I), Asia (Annex II), Latin America and the Caribbean (Annex

III), the Northern Mediterranean (Annex IV) and, since 2000, Central

and Eastern Europe (Annex V) – has made a real difference in the legal

international architecture, by making desertification/land degradation a

full-fledged item on the global sustainable development agenda.

See paragraph 205 of the Outcome Document (https://rio20.un.org/sites/rio20.un.org/

files/a-conf.216l-1_english.pdf) – see also annex 2.

The text of the Convention is available at www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

conventionText/conv-eng.pdf

www.unccd.int/en/about-the-convention/history/Pages/default.aspx

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The UNCCD focuses primarily on the protection of natural resources and

the fight against poverty in the arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas

of the world. It obliges affected developing countries to design strategies

against land degradation in so-called “national action programmes”

(NAPs).

For the purposes of the Convention, the terms were defined – among

them ‘desertification’ and ‘combating desertification’ (see box 1).

Box 1: ‘desertification’ and ‘combating desertification’

‘Desertification’ means land degradation in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-

humid areas resulting from various factors, including climatic variations

and human activities.

‘Combating desertification’ includes activities which are part of the

integrated development of land in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas

for sustainable development which are aimed at: (i) prevention and/or

reduction of land degradation; (ii) rehabilitation of partly degraded land;

and (iii) reclamation of desertified land.

‘Drought’ means the naturally occurring phenomenon that exists when

precipitation has been significantly below normal recorded levels, causing

serious hydrological imbalances that adversely affect land resource

production systems (UNCCD, article 1(c)).

‘Land degradation’ is the reduction or loss of the biological or economic

productivity and complexity of rainfed cropland, irrigated cropland, or

range, pasture, forest and woodlands resulting from land uses or from

a process or combination of processes, including processes arising from

human activities and habitation patterns, such as: (i) soil erosion caused

by wind and/or water; (ii) deterioration of the physical, chemical and

biological or economic properties of soil; and (iii) long-term loss of

natural vegetation (UNCCD, article 1(f)).

Source: UNCCD, article 1 (a) and (b) – www.unccd.int/Lists SiteDocumentLibrary/

conventionText/conv-eng.pdf

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The relationships between desertification and sustainable land

management (SLM) and between soil and climate change are very

important. They have transboundary, global impacts and should be better

reflected by decision-makers and policymakers.

One should not consider deserts and desertification as the same. Natural

deserts make up an important part of the Earth’s ecosystems, while

desertification is a process occurring when once-healthy landscapes in

dryland areas turn barren from human mismanagement and worsening

drought.

Nowadays, it is recognized that desertification, land degradation and

drought (DLDD) are global challenges occurring in all regions. At least

90 per cent of the inhabitants of drylands live in developing countries and

they suffer from the poorest economic and social conditions.

In the initial stages, the UNCCD was alternatively described as the

Convention for Africa or of the poor under the misguided belief that

desertification was essentially an African problem of no relevance for

the world at large. In contrast, climate change was considered a global

problem calling for global solutions right from the outset. However,

every year 12 million hectares of productive land are degraded through

desertification and drought alone. This is an area that is half the size of

the United Kingdom. In the same period, 75 billion tons of soil are lost

forever. Globally, 1.5 billion people live off the degrading land.

Drylands occupy 41.3% of Earth’s land area and are home to more than

2.1 billion people. It has been estimated that globally 24% of the land

is degrading, that nearly 20% of the degrading land is cropland and

20-25% rangeland, that desertification and degradation represents an

income loss of US-Dollar 42 billion per year, that about 1.5 billion people

worldwide directly depend on these degrading areas, and that a billion

www.unccd.int/en/programmes/RioConventions/RioPlus20Pages/default

aspx?HighlightID=54 and Ramesh Jaura: A world without land degradation is

possible, in: IDN-InDepthNews, 5 July 2012 (www.indepthnews.info/index.php/

global-issues/1032-a-world-without-land-degradation-is-possible).

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people of thepoorest and most marginalized people, who live in the most

vulnerable areas, may be the most severely affected by desertification.

There is a multitude of reasons to advance the fight against desertification,

as pointed out by the Executive Secretary of the UNCCD, Luc Gnacadja:

Drylands hold the key to future food security. Addressing DLDD

contributes to human security and political stability. We cannot adapt to

climate change or mitigate its effects without resorting to SLM. It will be

impossible to protect the planet against the loss of terrestrial biodiversity

without addressing DLDD. We cannot protect our forests without

addressing the top driver of deforestation: DLDD. It will be impossible

to achieve the MDGs without rescuing one billion people that are the

inhabitants of drylands.

At the Eighth Conference of the Parties in Madrid in September 2007, the

UNCCD entered a new phase with the adoption of the 10-year strategic

plan and framework to enhance the implementation of the Convention

(2008-2018) (the 10-year Strategy). This new development has taken the

Convention to new ground. Most importantly, Parties have laid out a clear

vision for a period of ten years in the Strategy, which is to forge global

partnerships to reverse and prevent desertification and land degradation.

These partnerships are also meant to mitigate the effects of drought in

affected areas. Coupled with the vision is a Strategy mission: to provide

a global framework to support the development and implementation of

national and regional policies that are to contribute to the reduction of

poverty.

The 10-year Strategy targets the use of effective and practical approaches

to SLM with synergy as a systemic approach. It has four strategic objectives

that should guide the actions of all UNCCD stakeholders and partners as

well as of parliaments and their members. These actions include political

will to: (i) improve the living conditions of affected populations; (ii)

Cf. United Nations Decade for Deserts and the Fight Against Desertification (2010-

2020): Why now (www.un.org/en/events/desertification_decade/whynow.shtml);

see also UNCCD / UNDP (2011): The Forgotten Billion. MDG Achievement in

the Drylands, Bonn and New York (www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

Publications/Forgotten%20Billion.pdf).

Cf. Luc Gnacadja on the Caux Forum for Human Security in Switzerland on 15 July

2011(www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/secretariat/2011/PPT_Caux%20

2011%20%20Restoring%20Earth%20Degraded%20Land.pdf).

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improve the condition of affected ecosystems; (iii) generate global benefits

through effective implementation of the UNCCD; (iv) mobilize resources

to support implementation of the Convention through building effective

partnerships between national and international actors. The ‘expected

impacts’ are in the long-term intended by the strategic objectives.

The Strategy has five operational objectives to guide the actions of all

UNCCD stakeholders and partners in the short and medium term:

(i) advocacy, awareness raising and education; (ii) policy framework to

support the creation of enabling environments for promoting solutions;

science, (iii) technology and knowledge; (iv) capacity-building; (v)

financing and technology transfer (see annex 1).

With the Ten-Year Strategy, Parties to the Convention are committed to

creating a new, revitalized common ground for all UNCCD stakeholders

in order to enhance the implementation of the Convention.

Successful implementation of the UNCCD entails cooperation among

various stakeholders. The reforms induced by the Strategy are radical, as

they apply to all the Convention’s bodies and institutions – the Committee

on Science and Technology (CST), the Global Mechanism (GM), the

secretariat and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation

of the Convention (CRIC) – as well as to the countries. Parties that are

affected by DLDD and the non-affected countries are supposed to align

their activities with the Strategy. Country Parties to the UNCCD play the

lead role in implementing the Convention and achieving the objectives

of the Ten-Year Strategy. However, success often depends on, or is

significantly supported by, the actions of specific stakeholder groups

including parliamentarians. They are already significant in the process,

but should play a more prominent role.

The Strategy specifies the mandate of the UNCCD secretariat for the

period 2008-2018. Successful implementation of this strategic plan

requires a strengthening of the core servicing, advocacy and agenda-

setting and representation functions of the UNCCD secretariat – with

commensurate capacity and resources – in order to support Parties,

the COP and the subsidiary bodies of the Convention in fulfilling their

www.unccd.int/en/Stakeholders/Pages/home.aspx

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respective roles. By adopting the Strategy, Parties placed a demand to

move towards a results-based management approach including indicators

to assess what is achieved on the ground.

iii. Thematic priorities

Productive land is becoming scarce and the pressure on productive land

resources is increasing. It has multiple and complex impacts on the global

environment through a broad range of direct and indirect processes.

Among its direct effects is the loss of fertile soils resulting from soil erosion

ultimately leading to a decline in productivity and per capita income

levels. The principal cause of land degradation and desertification is the

unsustainable exploitation of land productivity. This is often exacerbated

by misguided or non-existent policies. Overpopulation and livestock are

often seen as the culprits of land degradation and desertification, but they

are ultimately the consequence of poor decisions and mismanagement.

Luc Gnacadja, UNCCD Executive Secretary, and others rightly underline

that (top) soil has to be understood as part of the natural capital, which

provides the basis for life and economic production of human society.

That is why together with the UNCCD secretariat, the German Federal

Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and other

partners including the European Community have jointly launched

the ‘Economics of Land Degradation’ (ELD) initiative on 21 September

2011, during a side-event at the United Nations General Assembly high-

level meeting on desertification in New York.

ELD is a global initiative

for sustainable land management aimed at showing the impact land

degradation can have on the economy.

See UNCCD Update No. 1 (May, 2010): Ten-Year Strategy Shows Early Results.

UNCCD Secretariat (2012): Zero Net Land Degradation - A sustainable development

goal for Rio+20, a policy brief, Bonn www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

Rio+20/UNCCD_PolicyBrief_ZeroNetLandDegradation.pdf; see also the summary

atwww.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/secretariat/2012/ZNLD%20

Summary%20final.pdf).

Cf. http://eld-initiative.org. A policy paper was published in the lead-up to the global

initiative and was presented by the international team of authors from the Center

for Development Research (ZEF, Bonn) and the International Food Policy Research

Institute (IFPRI, Washington) at the side-event in New York (available at www.ifpri.

org/sites/default/files/publications/ifpridp01086.pdf

and

www.zef.de/fileadmin/

webfiles/downloads/zef_dp/zef_dp_150.pdf).

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The economics of land degradation must become an integral part of

policy-making – locally, nationally and internationally. A transparent

overview of the costs of action and inaction is likely to be a wake-up

call for politicians and the business community, demonstrating how

humansociety will be much better off in the long term if they invest in

healthy soils.

As the global authority and normative reference on DLDD, the UNCCD

promotes an environment that enables policy to respond to existing policy

gaps and ever evolving global challenges.

Some of the policy barriers to

addressing DLDD include the lack of information and data, and the need

for reform and implementation of science-based policy frameworks.

DLDD issues are linked to many development and thematic priorities.

The UNCCD cannot be viewed in isolation from other efforts to promote

sustainable development. The integration of environmental activities

into the broader development framework is at the heart of Millennium

Development Goal seven. The text of the Convention frequently refers

to sustainable development, climate change, biological diversity, water

resources, energy sources, food security and socio-economic factors.

The Convention must be considered as a multilateral land and soil

framework for adaptation, mitigation and resilience in combating the

effects of climate change. Furthermore, the Convention should be better

linked with efforts to accomplish relevant objectives under climate

change processes, and efforts to promote human security, tackle forced

migration and prevent conflict over scarce natural resources. At country

level desertification and climate change must be addressed in a synergetic

fashion, as part of an integrated approach to achieving sustainable

development for all. Addressing DLDD requires good governance,

gender mainstreaming and analysis, and the consideration of the roles

and rights of indigenous peoples.

The linkages between land/soil and climate change are significant

and should be better reflected in policymaking processes, including

parliamentary activities. Land and soil can make a difference in the fight

http://newsbox.unccd.int/3.4 and http://biodiversity-l.iisd.org/news/unccd-and-

partners-launch-economics-of-land-degradation-initiative

See www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Thematic-Priorities/Pages/default.aspx

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against climate change. Increased attention to the link between land/soil

and climate change would not only enrich the substantive debates on

effective means for carbon sequestration, but also provide a new platform

for developing countries to enter into the adaptation and mitigation

agendas; after all, for many of them, soil is their most important asset.

Rio+20 took the bold step to strive for a future that is land degradation-

neutral.

The Rio+20 outcome document on desertification, land

degradation and drought is considered as one of the successes of the

conference. The world governments underline the economic and social

significance of good land management, including soil, in paragraphs

205–209 of the Outcome Document.

They reaffirm their resolve

under the UNCCD to take coordinated action nationally, regionally

and internationally, to monitor, globally, land degradation and restore

degraded lands in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas (see annex 2).

To achieve this sustainable development goal – in the UNCCD secretariat’s

previous documents: “zero net land degradation” – it is necessary to avoid

the degradation of productive land and to restore the already degraded

lands (see box 2).

Box 2: ‘land degradation neutrality’ and ’Zero net land

degradation (Znld)’

“Land degradation neutrality is achieved when globally or in a given

landscape or terrestrial ecosystem the area of productive land (and therefore

sustainable land use) remains stable or increases.”

“Zero net land degradation: the achievement of land degradation neutrality,

whereby land degradation is either avoided or offset by land restoration.

Promoting the ZNLD target would secure the currently available productive

land for the use of present and future generations.”

www.unccd.int/en/programmes/RioConventions/RioPlus20/Pages/default.aspx?HighlightID=54

https://rio20.un.org/sites/rio20.un.org/files/a-conf.216l-1_english.pdf

Source: UNCCD Secretariat (2012): Zero Net Land Degradation - A sustainable

development goal for Rio+20, Bonn – www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

Rio+20/UNCCD_PolicyBrief_ZeroNetLandDegradation.pdf, pp. 6-7.

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The overall goal “sustainable land use for all and by all (for agriculture,

forestry, energy and urbanization)” is underlined by the following

targets: zero net land degradation by 2030, zero net forest degradation

by 2030 and drought preparedness policies implemented in all drought-

prone countries by 2020. Indeed, this goal constitutes a paradigm shift

in sustainable development

and could be considered as one of the most

important “Sustainable Development Goals”.

Achieving a land-degradation neutral world by 2030 will require the

commitment, support and active investment of all public and private

sector actors, of all parts of the supply and value chain related to land

use, including local and community stakeholders. There are reasons for

hope in reaching the goal (see box 3). Current and future generations

will benefit from the return on investment in terms of gains in efficiency,

resilience, and social inclusiveness.

Box 3: reasons for hope

The good news is that we know how to reach a goal of Zero Net Land

Degradation. More than two billion hectares of land worldwide is suitable

for rehabilitation through forest and landscape restoration. Of that, 1.5

billion hectares would be best suited to mosaic restoration, in which forests

and trees are combined with other land uses, including agroforestry and

smallholder agriculture. In the last two decades, significant land recovery

and improvement have occurred in drylands. In many cases, local

communities have taken charge. For instance, farmer-managed natural

regeneration and agroforestry techniques, such as planting of ‘fertilizer

trees’ on farmlands and grazing lands, have already been adopted in many

regions. Such techniques have contributed to improving millions of hectares

across Africa.

UNCCD Secretariat (2012): Zero Net Land Degradation - A sustainable development

goal for Rio+20, Bonn – www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/Rio+20/

UNCCD_PolicyBrief_ZeroNetLandDegradation.pdf;www.indepthnews.info/index.

php/global-issues/1032-a-world-without-land-degradation-is-possible

The work of the winners of the UNCCD Land for Life Award (which was launched at

COP 10 in 2011) shows that dryland degradation can be reversed, the livelihoods

and the income of millions of people be improved and national environmental policy

be influenced – by inter alia using land restoration techniques and reforestation,

bringing sustainable land management to thousands of hectares of common property

rangelands, forests and water resources, improving governance of nature and natural

resources, capacity building of smallholder farmers for sustainable agriculture and

forestry management. See www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Event-and-campaigns/

LandForLife/Pages/default.aspx

Source: UNCCD Secretariat (2012): Zero Net Land Degradation - A sustainable

development goal for Rio+20, Bonn – www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

Rio+20/UNCCD_PolicyBrief_ZeroNetLandDegradation.pdf, p. 10

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iv. The Parliamentary round tables and the network on the

UNCCD

Since 1998, parliamentarians have met in parallel to the COP ordinary

sessions. The Parliamentary Round Tables became an integral part of

the COP sessions and a platform for exchange of views and interaction

between MPs on sustainable development issues and, more specifically,

desertification, land degradation and soil erosion. These took place in

Dakar (1998), Recife (1999), Bonn (2000), Geneva (2001), Havana (2003),

Nairobi (2005), Madrid (2007), Buenos Aires (2009) and Changwon

(2011).

Each of the COPs took note of the declarations, adopted by the Round

Tables, and decided to include them as annexes to the reports of the

COP sessions. However, with respect to the implementation of the action

programmes to combat DLDD, the outcomes of the Parliamentary

Round Tables though sometimes quite innovative are rarely taken into

consideration at country level.

As at 2011, some 402 MPs, 15 per cent of them women, from about 80

countries and five regional parliaments participated at the nine Round

Tables.

The Round Tables are organized by the UNCCD secretariat with the

support of the host country and its parliament as well as the Inter-

Parliamentary Union (IPU).

The fifth Parliamentary Round Table which met in parallel to COP 6 in

Havana, Cuba on 3 - 4 September 2003 turned out to be a breakthrough: a

Parliamentary Network on the UNCCD (PNoUNCCD) was created, the

establishment of a parliamentary Steering Committee was agreed upon,

and a parliamentary action plan was adopted.

The PNoUNCCD was and is understood as a network of information,

interaction and influence with the aim of increasing parliamentary

involvement and efficiency in the fields of combating desertification, soil

erosion and land degradation, and as a tool of pooling information and

of ensuring greater parliamentary input into international negotiations

and organizations.

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In mid-September 2003, the Governing Council of the IPU endorsed

the Round Table outcomes and welcomed the creation of a Steering

Committee and of the Parliamentary Network.

In February 2004 the UNCCD secretariat established on its website

<www.unccd.int> a section entitled “Parliamentarians” (within the menu

“Stakeholders”). The secretariat maintains and keeps it up to date (it can be

accessed directly at www.unccd.int/en/Stakeholders/Parliamentarians/

Pages/default.aspx).

During the meeting of the Steering Committee in Praia, Cape Verde on 1

December 2008, the participants deplored: too many self-commitments

made by parliamentarians were not taken up at home. Parliaments and

MPs could do more to realize the various good ideas put forward during

the Parliamentary Round Tables and its action programmes. While the

website with its section “Parliaments in action” has been quite helpful,

the PNoUNCCD could be utilized more effectively. It is known that

several parliaments or MPs undertook initiatives within their respective

parliaments or at a (sub-) regional level, but these activities were not

reported to the UNCCD secretariat and therefore not published on the

website.

During the Parliamentary Round Tables in Buenos Aires (2009) and

Changwon (2011), the Statute of the Forum of Parliamentarians and the

Rules of Procedure of the Steering Committee were widely discussed and

finally adopted (see annex 3).

The 10-year Strategy as well as the declarations and commitments

adopted by previous UNCCD Parliamentary Round Tables in Buenos

Aires and Changwon already provide parliaments with some indications

and proposals on how to better exercise their role at home and in the

international arena as far as combating desertification/land degradation

is concerned.

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III. ROLE AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF DEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENTS

AND THEIR MEMBERS

Democracy - A universal value and a model, essential for

sustainable human development

Democracy understood as rule by the people and for the people is a

universal value, as can be seen in several documents. Democracy, the

political order of freedom, is based on free, fair and regular elections

enabling the change of government; separation of powers; respect,

protection and fulfilment of human rights; the rule of law for all without

any privileges and discrimination; and a genuine partnership between

men and women.

Democracy is realized through a complex set of institutions and practices,

which have evolved over time and continue to do so. These include: a

guaranteed framework of citizen rights; effective, accountable institutions

of government; an active citizen body or civil society; and a number of

mediating institutions between government and citizens, among which

political parties and free media are very important.

The Universal Declaration on Democracy, adopted by the Inter-

Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1997, is a very important, too often ignored

reference document.

This Declaration emphasizes: “Democracy is a

universally recognised ideal as well as a goal … It is thus a basic right

of citizenship to be exercised under conditions of freedom, equality,

transparency and responsibility, with due respect for the plurality of

views, and in the interest of the polity. … As an ideal, democracy aims

essentially to preserve and promote the dignity and fundamental rights

of the individual, to achieve social justice, foster the economic and social

development of the community, strengthen the cohesion of society

and enhance national tranquillity, as well as to create a climate that is

favourable for international peace. As a form of government, democracy

cf. IPU (2006): Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century. A guide to good

practice (written and edited by David Beetham), Geneva, p. 4.

The Declaration may be found at IPU (Hg.) : Democracy: It’s Principles and

Achievement, Geneva, 1998, pp. III-VIII (Parliament and democracy in the twenty-

first century. A guide to good practice ).

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is the best way of achieving these objectives; it is also the only political

system that has the capacity for self-correction.”

Following the endeavours of the IPU in 2007 the United Nations General

Assembly acknowledged the resilience and universality of the principles

of democracy by declaring 15 September the International Day of

Democracy.

Regarding the paradigm of sustainable human development, the outcome

document “The Future We Want” of Rio+20 explicitly acknowledges

that democracy, good governance and the rule of law, at both national

and international level, as well as an enabling environment, are

essential for sustainable development, including sustained and inclusive

economic growth, social development, environmental protection and

the eradication of poverty and hunger.

It reaffirms that achieving

sustainable development goals requires institutions at all levels that are

effective, transparent, accountable and democratic.

Rio+20 emphasized the importance of freedom, peace and security,

respect for all human rights, including the right to development and the

right to an adequate standard of living, including the right to food, the

rule of law, gender equality, the empowerment of women and the overall

commitment to democratic societies for development.

A democracy that delivers is necessary for sustainable human

development and a land-degradation neutral world.

ii. Functions and roles of a Parliament

Traditionally, a state’s power is exercised by three separate institutions

which exist largely independent of each other and which are supposed

to monitor one another thus limiting the power of a state: the legislative,

the executive, the judiciary. Legislative power is exercised by a (bi- or

unicameral) parliament. Parliaments are the central institution, the ‘heart’

of democracy; democratic parliaments reflect democratic societies. Every

parliament should be representative, transparent, accessible, accountable

and effective.

Universal Declaration on Democracy, paragraph 1 and 3.

Paragraph 9 and 10 of the Outcome Document (https://rio20.un.org/sites/rio20.

un.org/files/a-conf.216l-1_english.pdf)

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The six main roles, functions and powers of parliaments and their

members (the “parliamentary hexagon”) are ideally:

making laws, including constitutional changes (legislative power);

allocating financial resources and deciding on budget and taxation

(power of the purse);

holding governments accountable and exercising control of executive

actions, policy and personnel (power of oversight);

debating issues of national and international interest and democratic

representation of the people (power of discourse);

electing the parliamentary officers and – in the case of parliamentary

democracies – the executive (elective power);

influencing foreign policy as well as international relations and

institutions by ratification of treaties, decisions on peace and

war, allocation of financial resources to organizations and funds,

parliamentary diplomacy, mediation between the public and

international organizations and institutions, etc. (international

power).

These functions and roles are also at stake when it comes to the

parliamentary role in the implementation process of the UNCCD.

One may differ on the precise list of such functions, but there seems to be broad agreement

that at least some should be included in the tasks undertaken by and expected by all

parliaments. See IPU / UNDP (2012): Global Parliamentary Report 2012 (Lead author:

Greg Power), Geneva – New York 2012 (www.ipu.org/pdf/publications/gpr2012-full-e.

pdf); World Summit of Legislators (17 June 2012): The GLOBE Rio+20 Legislators’

Protocol, Rio de Janeiro (www.globeinternational.org/index.php/world-summit/56-

legislators-protocol; IPU (2006): Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century.

A guide to good practice (written and edited by David Beetham), Geneva; U. Holtz

(2003): The Parliamentary Hexagon, in: U. Holtz: The previous four Round Tables of

Members of Parliament on the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification,

Bonn, pp. 18-19 (www.uni-bonn.de/~uholtz/virt_apparat/UNCCD_Cuba.pdf).

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IV. AREAS IN WHICH PARLIAMENTS AND PARLIAMENTARIANS CAN

ACTIVELY CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE UNCCD

AND THE 10-YEAR STRATEGY

In general terms, parliaments and parliamentarians should commit to:

renew the political commitment of countries to sustainable human

development, taking into consideration four main dimensions

(economic growth, environmental protection,cial justice as well as

the political dimension: democracy, good governance and the rule

of law);

strengthen governance and institutions for sustainable development

at the international, regional, national and local levels;

strengthen the legislative response in the respective parliaments to

deliver the objectives of the Rio Earth Summit (1992), the World

Summit on Sustainable Development (Johannesburg, 2002) and

Rio+20 (2012);

increase the engagement on public policy on sustainable development

issues, particularly the implementation of the three Rio Conventions

(desertification, climate change, biodiversity);

push for and support poverty eradication and the achievement of

MDGs in conjunction with arising sustainable development goals;

do the utmost to attach higher political priority to desertification,

land degradation and soil erosion on national and global agendas,

and to work towards “a land-degradation neutral world” (Rio+20);

More specifically, the ‘parliamentary hexagon’ (see above) offers a good

framework of action to parliaments and their members with a view

to mobilizing stronger parliamentary commitment to the successful

implementation of the Convention and the 10-year Strategy. Several

proposals for action rely on former commitments and UNCCD

Parliamentary Round Table declarations.

For some of these commitments see World Summit of Legislators (17 June 2012): The

GLOBE Rio+20 Legislators’ Protocol, Rio de Janeiro (www.globeinternational.org/

index.php/world-summit/56-legislators-protocol).

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Law-making

In many countries, much of the legislative initiative lies with the

government. Especially in the emerging democracies where the

parliament does not have sufficient resources in terms of legislative

drafting services, the bulk of draft legislation comes from the executive.

The role of parliament is to scrutinize this draft legislation and to make

sure it is consistent with international standards and requirements for

the well-being of the people. Most constitutions give the parliament

the right to reject and/or amend draft legislation that does not meet

these requirements. It is therefore said that in the legislative sphere, the

executive proposes and the parliament disposes.

What can parliaments and parliamentarians do?

•

Enact an enabling legislation and standards and align them with

the provisions of the UNCCD and the 10-year Strategy; to make the

UNCCD and the Strategy more effective, it has to be ‘domesticated’

by national law.

•

Adopt laws or appropriate actions that encourage the mainstreaming

of action programmes to combat desertification and pursue land-

degradation neutrality (zero net land degradation) in the relevant

national policy areas.

•

Mainstream actions to address desertification, land degradation

and drought (DLDD) and promote sustainable land management

(SLM) practices on the political agenda and adopt corresponding

ordinances, laws and rules on land use.

•

Change detrimental land-use practices, promote appropriate land

tenure regimes and work for laws and international land investment

regulations with a view to ensuring that land deals maximize the

public interest, the contribution of investments to sustainable

development and the benefits for the rural poor.

•

Build up a culture of coordination to harmonize National Action

Programmes (NAPs) with other national development priorities.

This passage is taken from IPU / UN-OHRLLS (2009): Mobilizing parliamentary

support for the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries,

Geneva, p. 15.

International commitments generally become binding domestic law through a complex

process of “domestication” or transformation.

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•

Give higher priority to land issues (also when it comes to development

cooperation) to overcome the political marginalization of dryland

communities, re-evaluate agriculture and investment in rural areas

in the political arena, and stop the destructive agricultural protection

of developed countries and subsidized agricultural exports.

Strengthen food-security systems, including storage and marketing

facilities, particularly in rural areas of the drylands.

ii. Budget allocation

The power of the purse is the practical method by which the legislative

branch influences the executive and even judicial branches of government.

Normally, the national budget must be approved by the parliament which

thus has a dominant say in how state resources are allocated.

What can parliaments and parliamentarians do?

•

Push governments for a coherent country-wide response to land

challenges and provide the adequate financial means including

Official Development Assistance (ODA) and new financial

resources. The parliaments of the developed countries must work

towards improving development cooperation and increasing ODA,

particularly in those countries that did not reach the 0.7 per cent

target so far; which must be reached by 2015.

•

Provide substantial, adequate, timely and predictable financial

resources to support domestic initiatives to reverse and prevent

desertification/land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought.

Taking into account the advancement of the natural capital approach. This approach

takes into consideration the contributions and/or the destruction of agricultural

land, wetlands and forest, for example. The challenge is how to value and integrate

the natural capital within national economic frameworks to enable legislators to

better monitor the use of natural capital. Studies say that Niger alone loses about eight

percent of its gross domestic product due to overgrazing, salinity in irrigated rice and

soil nutrient depletion by sorghum and millet. (see www.ipsnews.net/2012/06/land-

is-our-ally-but-its-patience-is-not-eternal). See also article 25 of European Parliament

resolution from 20 September 2011 on developing a common EU position ahead of

the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development in which the European

Parliament “underlines the importance of valuing resources, natural capital and

ecosystem services at their real value, including the different cultural livelihood and

landscape values assigned to them, while not commodifying natural systems; (and)

calls for the establishment of natural capital accounting processes and their integration

into economic accounting structures and political decision-making processes.” (www.

europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=TA&reference=P7-TA-2011-0430&languag

e=EN&ring=B7-2011-0522).

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•

Create specific budget lines for combating land degradation and

investing in healthy soils.

Observe consistent budget strategies that appropriately integrate

foreign assistance into NAPs and national development plans.

Support NGO activities and create incentives for specific forms of

private investment.

Ask for the development of integrated investment frameworks – for

leveraging national, bilateral and multilateral resources with a view

to increasing the effectiveness, quality and impact of interventions.

iii. Oversight

Parliaments have the responsibility of holding the executive to account

by overseeing its work and making sure that it does not infringe on the

rights of citizens or waste state resources and that is consistent with the

public interest. Parliaments perform this oversight role in a number of

ways.

What can parliaments and parliamentarians do?

•

Request regular reports from the executive on its activities.

•

Evaluate measures taken by governments to implement the

Convention and the 10-year Strategy, in particular its strategic and

operational objectives (see annex 1).

•

Monitor executive actions and enquire whether anti-desertification

issues are included in overall government agendas (by means of oral

and written questions to the executive, motions, establishment of

special commissions or ad hoc committees, hearings, field visits and

so on).

•

Ask for better coordination of Multilateral Environment Agreements

(MEAs), Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), Country

Strategy Papers (CSPs) and, NAPs (supported by bilateral and

multilateral development agencies and organizations).

•

Ensure that article 10, paragraph 2 (f) of the Convention is respected:

NAPs should, inter alia, “provide for effective participation at the

local, national and regional levels of NGOs and local populations,

both women and men, particularly resource users, including

Cf. IPU / UN-OHRLLS (2009): Mobilizing parliamentary support for the Brussels

Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries, Geneva, p. 16.

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•

farmers and pastoralists and their representative organizations, in

policy planning, decision-making, and implementation and review

of national action programmes”. Parliaments and parliamentarians

should be actively involved in this participatory process starting

from the local level, and should require regular review of of and

progress reports on the implementation of NAPs.

Ask for the submission of regular ‘green accounting’ reports on the

state of combating poverty, on land and natural resource degradation

and on the progress achieved.

Develop legislators’ plans more effectively to monitor the actions

taken by governments towards their Rio commitments and how

they engage with the international processes and UN agencies on

sustainable development, including initiating debates in parliaments,

at least annually, to assess progress towards delivering the Rio

objectives.

iv. Debating issues of national and international interest -

Awareness raising

Parliamentarians are, above all, representatives of the people who have

elected them and in their various activities, they always seek to represent

their interests. They are opinion leaders who wield considerable influence

as parliamentarians or as members of political parties. In many countries,

especially in the developing world, apart from the purely parliamentary

functions of the MPs, they are often called upon to play diverse roles:

community leaders, development agents, etc. They are also very good

disseminators of information within society.

Parliaments and MPs can promote public discourse and serve as channels

for conveying the vision of the UNCCD and the 10-year Strategy to the

public and grassroots communities.

They should ensure that their political parties include the implementation

of UNCCD, the Strategy and the sustainable development goal of land

This passage is taken from IPU / UN-OHRLLS (2009): Mobilizing parliamentary

support for the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries,

Geneva, p. 17.

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degradation neutrality in their manifestos and other policy documents as

a matter of priority.

Parliaments and MPs can step up their efforts to raise awareness on

DLDD and its synergies with climate change and biodiversity as well as

on communication and educational issues, in order to increase the level

of understanding, and consequently of support, needed to effectively

implement the UNCCD.

What can parliaments and parliamentarians do?

•

Advocate environmental awareness raising and sensitize the public

about desertification – act as agents of change.

•

In order to achieve zero net land degradation by 2030, foster the

commitment, support and active investment of all public and private

sector actors, and all parts of the supply and value chain related to

land use, as well as local community stakeholders.

•

Promote and support annual events such as special parliamentary

debates and the World Day to Combat Desertification on June 17

(with appropriate activities in the constituencies), commemorative

postal stamps, environmental education as well as the involvement

of schools, academics, artists and mass media.

•

Raise the visibility of the Convention through practical means such

as parliamentary websites.

•

Foster the participation of all stakeholders, in particular civil society,

NGOs, youth and women’s associations, the private sector, and build

partnerships between policymakers, the academic community, the

business sector, NGOs and community-based organizations.

UNCCD Secretariat (2010): Comprehensive Communication Strategy. Drylands: Global

Assets, Bonn, (www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/convention/css.pdf), pp.

18–19: Regarding awareness-raising, specific target groups to be addressed including

ministers, high-ranking government officials and parliamentarians. Objectives are

(i) to raise awareness among political decision makers and key civil servants about

the potential returns on SLM as well as of the disproportionate cost of business as

usual compared to the cost of appropriate action in addressing land degradation and

drought, (ii) to promote recognition among political decision-making circles of the

whole range of global benefits brought about by land/soils restoration and SLM in the

drylands; (iii) to deepen understanding among political decision makers and leaders

of how soil restoration and SLM in the drylands can contribute to addressing major

global challenges. The further target groups are: Civil servants in ministries concerned

with desertification/land degradation and drought/sustainable land management; the

media; the scientific community, non-governmental organizations and civil society

organizations; the public at large; the private sector.

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•

Establish national, regional and/or local awards, which include

five possible levels: political leadership, civil servants, civil society,

private sector, and the media.

v. Election of competent personalities and bodies

Parliaments must be autonomous regarding their own organizational

structures.

What can parliaments and parliamentarians do?

•

Elect competent and committed personalities for parliamentary

leadership, relevant committees and rapporteur roles and ensure

continuous advocacy on the UNCCD.

•

Establish a national network of MPs and a parliamentary focal point

on UNCCD issues.

•

Encourage women’s parliamentary UNCCD caucuses.

•

Appoint a Parliamentary Commissioner for Present and Future

Generations who should submit regular reports on the state of

combating land degradation, soil loss and desertification and the

progresses on the road to zero net land degradation.

vi. International Cooperation and networking

In the age of globalization, the national state in all its branches has been

losing power to global forces and institutions. Parliaments are victims

of this development, too. This gap between the national level where

democratic institutions have historically been located, and the global

or regional levels where so many decisions are now taken, is a major

source of what is termed the international ‘democracy deficit’.

For some

observers and politicians, the world must make visionary steps towards a

world government and a world parliament.

The UNCCD Land for Life award recognizes innovation and excellence in sustainable

land management (SLM), particularly efforts that enhance soils’ natural health and

yield. Individuals, teams, communities, institutions, businesses, research and academic

institutes, public offices, local governments, decision-makers, journalists, media,

non-governmental organizations and civil society organizations are all eligible for the

award. (See also www.unccd.int/en/programmes/Event-and-campaigns/LandForLife/

Pages/default.aspx ).

See IPU (2006): Parliament and democracy in the twenty-first century (2006). A guide

to good practice (written and edited by David Beetham), Geneva, pp. 156-157.

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Today, the distinction between foreign or international and national

or domestic levels has become increasingly blurred. Parliaments

must therefore step beyond the traditional executive prerogative in

international affairs.

What this might involve was outlined in the Declaration of the First

Conference of Presiding Officers of Parliaments

organised by the IPU

in cooperation with the United Nations in 2000.

The parliamentary dimension must be provided by parliaments themselves

first of all at the national level in four distinct but interconnected ways: (i)

influencing their respective countries’ policy on matters dealt with in the

United Nations and other international negotiating forums; (ii) keeping

themselves informed of the progress and outcome of these negotiations;

(iii) deciding on ratification, where the Constitution so foresees, of texts

and treaties signed by governments; and (iv) contributing actively to the

subsequent implementation process.

What can parliaments and parliamentarians do?

•

Beyond the national level, engage in global and regional parliamentary

cooperation and strengthen this cooperation – inspired by certain

fundamental values essential to international relations in the twenty-

first century

including freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance,

respect for nature, and shared responsibility.

•

Due to the high political relevance of desertification/land degradation,

promote higher political will and stronger parliamentarian

involvement in the implementation of the UNCCD and its 10-year

Strategy at the national, (sub-) regional and international levels.

•

Seek to strengthen the parliamentary impact on the COPs as a

whole through mechanisms for better interactions with the Parties:

at home, by influencing the national position; during the COPs,

through dialogue sessions.

Conference of Presiding Officers of National Parliaments (2000): The parliamentary

vision for international cooperation at the dawn of the third millennium, New York

(www.ipu.org/splz-e/sp-dclr.htm)

Cf. Millennium Declaration (2000), paragraph 6 (www.un.org/millennium/

declaration/ares552e.htm).

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•

Be more active in transnational collaboration, so as to provide

more effective parliamentary inputs in regional and international

organizations.

Parliaments are encouraged to coordinate more with relevant (sub)

regional or continental organizations in an effort to promote the

alignment of regional and sub regional action programmes with the

objectives of the 10-year Strategy.

Parliaments and MPs should advocate for the launch of special

initiatives to combat desertification at regional levels.

Send committed MPs to the UNCCD Parliamentary Round Table,

organized every two years in parallel with the sessions of COP, where

the parliamentary influence must be enhanced.

Better utilize the Parliamentary Network on the UNCCD

(PNoUNCCD), which needs adequate funding, and its Steering

Committee, which should show more guidance in strengthening

the PNoUNCCD and ensuring follow-up actions of the declarations

adopted by the Round Tables of Parliamentarians.

Discuss and agree on contributions by MPs towards making the

UNCCD a global authority on land and soil.

Help establish an Intergovernmental Panel on Land and Soil and

promote an Agreement of a new legal instrument to the UNCCD

(such as a Protocol on Zero Net Land Degradation) as a global

policy and monitoring framework to focus efforts and empower the

international community to act with the speed and scale required to

address this issue.

Cf. Eighth Session of the UNCCD Round Table for Parliamentarians: Commitments

and future actions of Parliamentarians, adopted by parliamentarians in Buenos

Aires on 24–25 September 2009) (www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

Parliament/2009/Buenos_A_-_Declaration_2009-09-25%20final%20version.pdf). The

Statute, adopted by the Forum of Parliamentarians/Round Table in 2011, stipulates:

“The Steering Committee’s mandate shall be to: a) Contribute to meeting commitments

undertaken under the UNCCD in the countries affected by desertification, land

degradation, and drought; b) Evaluate the role and encourage the responsibility of

governments and relevant multilateral organizations; c) Contribute to strengthening

the capacities of parliamentarians; d) Produce and disseminate updated information

for parliamentarians on specific subjects concerning the UNCCD; e) Facilitate contact

with other networks of parliamentarians, civil-society organizations, multilateral

organizations, the private sector and the press; f) Identify the appropriate actions in

support of the UNCCD; g) Monitor the UNCCD implementation process and give

independent opinions to the Conference of the Parties.” (see annex 3, article 9)

See UNCCD Secretariat (2012): Zero Net Land Degradation - A sustainable

development goal for Rio+20, Bonn – www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/

Rio+20/UNCCD_PolicyBrief_ZeroNetLandDegradation.pdf

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•

Create parliamentary oversight mechanisms (e.g. vis-à-vis the

Global Environment Facility, regional development banks, the

Green Climate Fund).

A United Nations Parliamentary Assembly (UNPA) could strengthen

the effectiveness, transparency, representativeness, plurality and

legitimacy of the work of the institutions that compose the United

Nations system. The establishment of a UNPA could also be a

centrepiece for parliamentary supervision of the renewed system of

international financial, economic and environmental governance.

The Round Table of the Parliamentarians under the UNCCD could

play a leadership role in this context

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OUTLOOK

The many proposals for mobilizing parliamentary efforts in the context

of the implementation of the UNCCD are not intended to offer ‘one-size-

fits-all’ solutions; instead, actions should be undertaken considering the

unique DLLD situation in each country.

It is of utmost importance that parliaments and their members throughout

the globe join forces in order to strengthen political momentum for the

actions against DLLD including the vision for a land-degradation neutral

world. They should seek cooperation with like-minded partners and

build up alliances with all stakeholders in land and soil in particular,

and also in sustainable, human development in general. They also need

relevant documentation, technical assistance, advisory services and, last

but not least, the high quality services of the UNCCD secretariat.

Regarding UNCCD issues, a valuable source of information is the bi-

monthly update on the work of UNCCD, published by the secretariat since

July-August 2009 (http://newsbox.unccd.int). The UNCCD secretariat is

encouraged to review the good practices on SLM technologies and land-

neutrality projects and programmes, with a view to considering additional

information, which would facilitate identification and replication of good

practices.

Where and how to reach parliaments and parliamentarians? Apart from

the local directories, it is possible to find information for each parliament

from the PARLINE database on the website of the Inter-Parliamentary

Union (www.ipu.org). This database provides detailed information

including the names of the Presiding Officer, Clerk/Secretary General

of the Parliament, their telephone and fax numbers, and their internet

address. In addition, most national, regional and continental parliaments

now maintain a website.

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•

ANNEX

Annex 1: UNCCD’s 10-year Strategy (2008-2018) – Its strategic and

operational objectives

Annex 2: Outcomes of the Rio+20 Conference as they relate to

desertification, land degradation and drought

Annex 3: Statute of the Forum of Parliamentarians in the Context

of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification

(UNCCD) and Rules of Procedure of the Steering Committee

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ANNEX 1: UNCCD’S 10-year Strategy (2008-2018) - its strategic and

operational objectives

Strategic objectives

Objective 1:

To improve the living conditions of affected populations

Objective 2:

To improve the condition of affected ecosystems

Objective 3:

To generate global benefits through effective implementation

of the UNCCD

Objective 4:

To mobilize resources to support implementation of the

Convention through building effective partnerships between national

and international actors

The Five Operational Objectives of The Strategy

Operational objective 1: Advocacy, awareness raising and education

To actively influence relevant international, national and local processes

and actors in adequately addressing desertification/land degradation and

drought-related issues.

Operational objective 2: Policy framework

To support the creation of enabling environments for promoting

solutions to combat desertification/land degradation and mitigate the

effects of drought.

Operational objective 3: Science, technology and knowledge

To become a global authority on scientific and technical knowledge

pertaining to desertification/land degradation and mitigation of the

effects of drought.

Operational objective 4: Capacity-building

To identify and address capacity-building needs to prevent and reverse

desertification/land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought.

Operational objective 5: Financing and technology transfer

To mobilize and improve the targeting and coordination of national,

bilateral and multilateral financial and technological resources in order

to increase their impact and effectiveness.

Source: Decision 3/COP.8.

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ANNEX 2: Outcomes of the Rio+20 conference on Desertification Land

Degradation and Drought

The United Nation’s Conference on Sustainable Development (Brazil on

20-22 June 2012, known as Rio+20) outcome on desertification, land

degradation and drought is considered as one of the successes of the

Conference. Contained in five paragraphs of the Outcome Document

(‘The future we want’), the world governments underline the economic

and social significance of good land management, including soil. They

thus agree to strive for a land-degradation neutral world. They reaffirm

their resolve under the UNCCD to take coordinated action nationally,

regionally and internationally, to monitor, globally, land degradation and

restore degraded lands in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-humid areas.

Desertification, land degradation and drought

205.

We recognize the economic and social significance of good land

management, including soil, particularly its contribution to economic

growth, biodiversity, sustainable agriculture and food security,

eradicating poverty, the empowerment of women, addressing climate

change and improving water availability. We stress that desertification,

land degradation and drought are challenges of a global dimension and

continue to pose serious challenges to the sustainable development of

all countries, in particular developing countries. We also stress the

particular challenges this poses for Africa, the least developed countries

and the landlocked developing countries. In this regard, we express deep

concern for the devastating consequences of cyclical drought and famine

in Africa, in particular in the Horn of Africa and the Sahel region, and

call for urgent action through short-, medium- and long-term measures

at all levels.

206.

We recognize the need for urgent action to reverse land degradation.

In view of this, we will strive to achieve a land-degradation neutral world

in the context of sustainable development. This should act to catalyse

financial resources from a range of public and private sources.

Extracted from Document A/CONF.216/L.1 dated 19 June 2012 (https://rio20.

un.org/sites/rio20.un.org/files/a-conf.216l-1_english.pdf and www.unccd.int/Lists/

SiteDocumentLibrary/Rio+20/TheFutureWeWantRIOplus20.pdf).

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207.

We reaffirm our resolve in accordance with the United Nations

Convention to Combat Desertification to take coordinated action

nationally, regionally and internationally, to monitor, globally, land

degradation and restore degraded lands in arid, semi-arid and dry sub-

humid areas. We resolve to support and strengthen the implementation of

the Convention and the 10-year strategic plan and framework to enhance

its implementation (2008-2018), including through mobilizing adequate,

predictable and timely financial resources. We note the importance of

mitigating the effects of desertification, land degradation and drought,

including by preserving and developing oases, restoring degraded lands,

improving soil quality and improving water management, in order to

contribute to sustainable development and poverty eradication. In this

regard, we encourage and recognize the importance of partnerships and

initiatives for the safeguarding of land resources. We also encourage

capacity-building, extension training programmes and scientific studies

and initiatives aimed at deepening understanding and raising awareness

of the economic, social and environmental benefits of sustainable land

management policies and practices.

208.

We stress the importance of the further development and

implementation of scientifically based, sound and socially inclusive

methods and indicators for monitoring and assessing the extent of

desertification, land degradation and drought, as well as the importance

of efforts under way to promote scientific research and strengthen

the scientific base of activities to address desertification and drought

in accordance with the United Nations Convention to Combat

Desertification. In this respect, we take note of the decision of the

Conference of the Parties to the Convention, at its tenth meeting, to

establish an ad hoc working group, taking into account regional balance,

to discuss specific options for the provision of scientific advice to its

parties.

209.

We reiterate the need for cooperation through the sharing of climate

and weather information and forecasting and early warning systems

related to desertification, land degradation and drought, as well as to dust

storms and sandstorms, at the global, regional and sub regional levels. In

this regard, we invite States and relevant organizations to cooperate in the

sharing of related information, forecasting and early warning systems.

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ANNEX 3: Statute of the forum of parliamentarians in the context of the

United Nations Convention to Comabat Desertification (UNCCD)

and

the rules of procedure of the steering committee

A. Statute

The Statute was unanimously adopted in Changwon, Republic of Korea,

on the occasion of the ninth Forum of Parliamentarians / Round Table of

Members of Parliament, on October 13, 2011.

Aware of the challenges facing humanity with regard to environmental

preservation and sustainable development;

Given the commitments of the Parties to the United Nations Convention

to Combat Desertification (UNCCD);

Considering the previous declarations adopted by the parliamentarians

on the occasion of the Conferences of the Parties to the UNCCD;

Taking into account the role of parliamentarians in national governing

systems;

Lastly, given the importance of parliamentary diplomacy in international

relations;

The parliamentarians, meeting in Changwon, Republic of Korea, on the

occasion of the ninth Forum of Parliamentarians held in conjunction

with the tenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD

hereby approve the following statutes:

www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/Parliament/Statute%20of%20the%20

Parliamentarians-EN-rev1-14-10-ggl.pdf

www.unccd.int/Lists/SiteDocumentLibrary/Parliament/2009/Rules%20of%20

procedures_ENG-adopted%20version_25.09.09.pdf

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Chapter 1

General Provisions

Article 1

(Constitution)

The Forum of Parliamentarians of the United Nations Convention

to Combat Desertification, referred to below as the Forum of

Parliamentarians of the UNCCD, is hereby constituted.

The present statute shall apply to any session of the Forum of

Parliamentarians.

Article 2

(Nature)

The Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD is a body which

brings together parliamentarians of the Parties to the Convention and

serves as a platform for exchanging viewpoints and for interaction

among parliamentarians on subjects regarding implementation of

the Convention.

The Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD provides opinions to

the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.

Article 3

(Objectives)

The objectives of the Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD are as

follows:

a. contributing to the sharing of knowledge and experience in the fight

against desertification and land degradation;

b. contributing to greater involvement by parliamentarians in fulfilling

national commitments in the fight against desertification and land

degradation;

c. promoting participation by parliamentarians in defining and

controlling environmental policies, especially with regard to the

fight against desertification and land degradation;

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encouraging the reinforcement of national legislation regarding the

fight against desertification and harmonizing it with the UNCCD

provisions and the relevant decisions made by the Conference of the

Parties;

making sure that matters regarding land degradation and

desertification are taken into account by major national policies such

as poverty-reduction strategies;

strengthening the capacities of national parliaments for evaluating

the impacts of policies to fight desertification and land degradation;

promoting international, regional, and sub-regional cooperation

with parliamentary networks for protecting the environment and

combating desertification and land degradation;

contributing to mobilizing and allocating resources to combat

desertification and land degradation at the national level;

encouraging the creation of coalitions and partnerships among

parliamentarians, politicians, academics, journalists, and

representatives from the private sector and civil society in order

to protect the environment and fight desertification and land

degradation;

Article 4

(Composition)

The Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD is composed of the

Representatives and Senators appointed by the National Parliaments of

the Parties to the UNCCD.

Chapter II

Organization and Functioning

Article 5

(Bodies)

The Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD contains the following

bodies:

the Forum President;

the Steering Committee;

the Forum Assembly.

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Article 6

(Forum President)

The Forum President shall be elected by the Forum Assembly, from

the members of the Steering Committee, nominated by one or more

regional groups;

The President’s term shall be two years, renewable once. The

President may not serve more than two consecutive terms.

Article 7

(President’s Mandate)

The President’s mandate shall be to:

eepresent the Forum internally and externally;

define, in conjunction with the members of the Steering Committee

and UNCCD secretariat, the projects on the Steering Committee

and Forum Assembly agenda;

announce the opening and closure of the Forum of Parliamentarians

and preside over its sessions;

ensure the application of the present Statute;

hand over the floor, submit deliberations to a vote and announce

decisions;

rule on procedural questions.

Article 8

(Steering Committee)

The Steering Committee shall be composed of a President and

four Vice Presidents, in addition to a member of the Standing

Committee of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) on Sustainable

Development, Finance, and Trade, so that the Steering Committee

has a representative for each region.

The members of the Steering Committee, with the exception

of the member appointed by the IPU, shall be elected from the

parliamentarians present at the Forum Assembly held during the

Conference of the Parties.

The Committee shall have a term of two years and may not serve

more than two consecutive terms.

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Article 9

(Mandate)

The Steering Committee’s mandate shall be to:

contribute to meeting commitments undertaken under the UNCCD

in the countries affected by desertification, land degradation, and

drought;

evaluate the role and encourage the responsibility of governments

and relevant multilateral organizations;

contribute to strengthening the capacities of parliamentarians;

produce and disseminate updated information for parliamentarians

on specific subjects concerning the UNCCD;

facilitate contact with other networks of parliamentarians, civil-

society organizations, multilateral organizations, the private sector

and the press;

identify the appropriate actions in support of the UNCCD;

monitor the UNCCD implementation process and give independent

opinions to the Conference of the Parties.

Article 10

(Assembly Sessions)

The Assembly of the Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD shall

meet in ordinary sessions every two years in the countries hosting the

ordinary session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention.

Article 11

(Agenda)

The President of the Forum of Parliamentarians of the UNCCD shall

submit to the members attending the Forum Assembly the draft

session agenda for final approval.

The agenda shall be approved by the majority of parliamentarians

attending the session.

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Article 12

(Deliberations)

The Deliberations of the Forum Assembly are adopted by consensus.

If efforts to reach consensus have been exhausted and no agreement

has been reached, the decision shall be taken by simple majority of

the members present and voting.

The Forum Assembly can only deliberate on subjects on the agenda

approved by the plenary session.

Chapter III

Functioning and Institutional Support

Article 13

(Funding)

Each Parliament contributes to the expenses related to its representation.

Article 14

(Institutional Support)

In the aim of properly fulfilling its functions, the Forum of Parliamentarians

shall be supported by the UNCCD secretariat, which shall act in close

collaboration with the Inter-Parliamentary Union Secretariat.

Article 15

(Interpretation)

It shall be under the mandate of the Forum President to interpret the

present statute, without prejudice to the right to consult the Forum

Assembly.

Chapter IV

Final Provisions

Article 16

(Modifying the Statute)

Proposed modifications to the present statute may be submitted to

the Steering Committee.

The Steering Committee shall issue a motivated opinion on all

proposals submitted to it, and after disclosing them, submit them for

consideration by the Forum Assembly at its next meeting.

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The present statute may be modified by consensus by the Forum

Assembly. If efforts to reach consensus have been exhausted and

no agreement has been reached, the decision shall be taken by two-

thirds majority vote of the members present and voting.

Article 17

(Entry into Force)

The present statute shall be confirmed by the Forum Assembly and enter

into force once it is adopted.

B. Rules of Procedure of the Steering Committee

The rules have been prepared by the Steering Committee of the

Parliamentarians Networks of the UNCCD. This document was adopted

by Parliamentarians on the occasion of their Eighth Session held on 24-

25 September 2009, in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

I. THE SCOPE

RULE 1

The present rules of procedure shall apply to any session of the Steering

Committee of the Parliamentary network of the UNCCD.

II. THE ROLE

RULE 2

1. The Steering Committee of the UNCCD is to provide better inputs

and monitor the work of parliamentarians in the context of the

UNCCD implementation process.

2. In conjunction with the Parliamentary Network, the Steering

Committee is to:

provide the members of the network with a platform for knowledge

sharing, interaction and coordinated proactive measures;

help increase parliamentary involvement in monitoring national,

sub regional, regional and international activities to combat

desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD);

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promote awareness-raising, timely consultative processes and the

exchange of information, experience and good practices; support

resource mobilization; foster operations on the ground;

encourage coalition-building and partnerships between

parliamentarians and policymakers, the academic community,

the business sector, NGOs, and the relevant community based

organizations (CBOs);

promote forms of international, regional and sub regional

cooperation, favourable to improving relations between the relevant

intergovernmental organizations, and;

supervise the follow up activities of recommendations made on the

occasion of the UNCCD parliamentary round tables.

III. OBJECTIVES

RULE 3

The Steering Committee was established with the main objectives of:

a. helping to translate commitments into real actions in respect of the

implementation of the Convention in those countries experiencing

serious drought and/or desertification and land degradation.

b. assessing the role and increasing the accountability of governments

and relevant multilateral organizations.

RULE 4

The Steering Committee main tasks are to:

a. produce and disseminate regular updates for parliamentarians on

specific topics as they relate to DLDD;

b. connect parliamentarians with other parliamentary networks, civil

society organizations, multilateral organizations, the private sector

and the media;

c. identify appropriate parliamentary actions to support the UNCCD;

d. build parliamentarians’ capacities;

e. follow up as appropriate with the UNCCD implementation processes.

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IV. COMPOSITION

RULE 5

1. The Steering Committee shall be composed by a President and four

Vice-presidents plus one member of the Bureau of the IPU Standing

Committee on Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade, in a

manner that the Steering Committee will have one representative

per the different geopolitical regions: Africa, Arab region, Asia and

Pacific, Europe (Twelve +), Latin America and Caribbean.

2. Among the members of the Steering Committee, designated on a

regional basis, there will be at least two members of each gender.

RULE 6

The President of the Steering Committee, if temporarily unable to attend

a session or any part thereof, shall be replaced by a Vice-President, who

will be appointed by the present Steering Committee members.

RULE 7

If a member of the Steering Committee resigns, or is otherwise unable to

complete the assigned term of office or to perform the functions of that

office, a substitute representative of the same region shall be designated

by the Parliament of the concerned member to serve for the remainder

of the mandate.

V. APPOINTMENT AND TERMS

RULE 8

1. The Steering Committee members shall be elected from among

the parliamentarians present at the session of the Parliamentarians

Round Table organized in parallel to the UNCCD COP sessions held

every two years.

2. The President shall be elected from among the Steering Committee

members, for one term renewable once.

3. The Steering Committee shall be elected for a two-year term.

4. The presidency should rotate among the different geopolitical

regions.

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VI. SESSIONS

RULE 9

1. Meetings of the Steering Committee are chaired by the President – if

temporarily unable to attend the session, rule 6 applies.

2. The Steering Committee shall meet in ordinary session at least once

a year after convocation by the President and in close consultation

with the UNCCD Secretariat.

3. The venue and timing of ordinary sessions shall be decided by the

President in agreement, whenever possible, with the rest of members

of the Committee and the UNCCD Secretariat.

4. The Steering Committee shall be convened in extraordinary session

if the President deems it necessary or if three of its members so

request.

5. The President of the Steering Committee shall declare the opening,

suspension and closing of the session, preside at the meetings of the

session, ensure the observance of the present rules, accord the right

to speak, put questions for decision on the basis of consensus.

6. In case of lack of consensus, the Steering Committee will rule by

majority vote.

7. In case of tie, the President’s vote will prevail.

8. All decision taken by the Steering Committee shall, as appropriated,

be circulated in writing and approved before the end of each meeting.

9. The President shall make a decision in all cases not covered by these

Rules, if necessary after having the advice of members of the Steering

Committee.

VII. AGENDA

RULE 10

1. The provisional agenda of each session shall be prepared by the

UNCCD Secretariat in agreement with the President.

2. For each ordinary session, the provisional agenda shall be distributed

by the UNCCD Secretariat to the members of the Committee at least

one month before the opening of the session.

3. The Secretariat shall, in agreement with the President, include in the

provisional agenda any supplementary item, which is proposed by a

member of the Steering Committee.

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The provisional agenda of each session shall be fixed by the Steering

Committee at the opening of each session.

VIII. DELIBERATIONS - QUORUM - VOTE

RULE 11

The presence of the President and at least three members of the steering

Committee shall be required for any deliberations to be held and decision

to be taken by the Committee.

IX. THE STRUCTURE

RULE 12

The Steering Committee is assisted in its activities by the UNCCD

Secretariat and the IPU.

RULE 13

1. The UNCCD Secretariat shall receive or prepare relevant documents

necessary to the deliberations of the Steering Committee and shall

distribute them to its members as far as possible in English, French

and Spanish.

2. The Secretariat shall prepare provisional summary records of

the sessions, which shall be sent to the President of the Steering

Committee within 40 days of the close of each session and submitted

for the approval of the Committee at the opening of the next session.

X. ADOPTION AND AMENDMENT OF THE RULES

RULE 14

1. The present rules of procedure shall be adopted and may be amended

by The Steering Committee by an absolute majority of the members

present at the time of adoption.

2. Proposals to amend the rules of the Steering Committee must be

formulated in writing and sent to the UNCCD Secretariat at least

three months before the next meeting of the Committee. The

Secretariat shall immediately communicate such proposals, as

well as any proposals for sub-amendments, to the members of the

Committee for further consideration.

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