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EXPERTS MEETING ON DESERTIFICATION FROM LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN

The Experts Meeting on Desertification from Latin America and the Caribbean, hosted by the Regional Office of UNEP, was held in Mexico City on 23-24 July, 1993. It was attended by 14 experts from Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Chile, Mexico, Peru and UNEP. The group dealt with the political and technical aspects of interest to the region's governments regarding the work of the INCD. The meeting issued a series of recommendations and conclusions that were grouped into four areas: the situation of desertification in the region; national action plans to combat desertification; suggestions for immediate action in the region; and the negotiations of the INCD. The recommendations and conclusions for the Committee included the need to: recognize the global character of the Convention; reaffirm that Latin America and the Caribbean are severely affected by drought and desertification; recognize that the particular reference to Africa in the Convention will not exclude the necessity and urgency for action in other equally affected regions; negotiate specific instruments of equal weight for all regions affected by drought and desertification; mobilize regional experience to support the negotiations; request the INCD Secretariat for support in holding regional meetings with the objective of negotiating a specific instrument for Latin America and the Caribbean, with the first meeting to be held this year so that a specific instrument could be presented for the region at the March 1994 session of the INCD.