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SPECIAL SEGMENT:
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Above
photos: The Special Segment of COP-7
opened with traditional and contemporary Kenyan cultural
performances.
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Andrew
Kiptoon, Permanent Representative of
Kenya
to UNEP, opened the special segment,
which started with a cultural performance by Kenyan artists.
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Grace
Gathoni, a 12-year old student, delivered a message on
young people’s expectations and recited a poem, emphasizing
the role of education and training in combating
desertification.
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Abdulai
Arbele, an elder from Rendille Community, spoke on
how desertification affects pastoralists’ livelihoods.
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UNCCD
Executive Secretary Hama Arba Diallo delivered the
message from the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The message highlighted the need for more concerted actions and
financial resources to combat desertification. |
UNEP
Executive Director Klaus Töpfer highlighted that many
people’s livelihoods depend on ecosystem services and that
combating desertification is crucial in meeting MDGs.
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Jose
A.D.Duque, Minister of Science and Technology and the
Environment of Cuba, and President of COP-6, called on countries to act
promptly in order to achieve the aims of the Convention.
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Wangari
Maathai, Nobel Laureate, said that political will,
rather than financial resources, is the solution in the struggle
against desertification, and emphasized its link with climate
change.
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Stephen
Kalonzo Musyoka,
President of COP-7, Minister for Environment and Natural
Resources of Kenya, stressed that the UNCCD is an important tool
to achieve the objectives of the WSSD. |
Mwai
Kibaki, President of Kenya, welcomed the delegates, and
congratulated the UNCCD Bureau on work done in forwarding the
objectives of the Convention. He said the outcome of the session
will have a direct bearing on Kenya
and all affected countries, and the
achievement of the MDGs.
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Above photos
L-R: UNEP
Executive Director Klaus Töpfer; UNCCD
Executive Secretary Hama Arba Diallo;
Mwai
Kibaki, President of the Republic of Kenya; Stephen
Kalonzo Musyoka,
President of COP-7, Minister for Environment and Natural
Resources of Kenya; Jose
A.D.Duque, Minister of Science and Technology and the
Environment of
Cuba; Nikhil
Seth, United Nations Secretariat; Wangari
Maathai, Nobel Laureate and Abdulai
Arbele, an elder from Rendille Maasai Community |
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LAUNCHING
OF TERRAFRICA:
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The
New Alliance to Combat Land Degradation in
Africa
(TerrAfrica) was launched in the afternoon. President Musyoka
introduced the initiative. He described the initiative, which is
focused on Sub-Saharan African countries and their response to
UNCCD implementation.
Above photo L-R: J.
Warren Evans, Director, Environment Department,
World Bank; Len
Good, CEO and Chairman, Global Environment Facility (GEF); Iyorcha
Ayu, Minister of the Environment of Nigeria; UNCCD
Executive Secretary Diallo; President
Musyoka; Nikhil
Seth, United Nations Secretariat; Laurent
Sedego, Minister of the Environment of Burkina Faso and Cyril
Enweze, Vice-President of International Fund for
Agricultural Development
(IFAD)
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Above
photos: Iyorcha
Ayu, Minister of the Environment of Nigeria, (left) thanked the
funding institutions participating in TerrAfrica, and noted
that it is a new business model for the participation of key
stakeholders, and to channel investment in the region; Laurent
Sedego, Minister of the Environment of Burkina Faso,
presented a perspective on desertification in his country,
which continues at an accelerated pace; Len
Good, CEO and Chairman, Global Environment Facility (GEF),
highlighted that addressing land degradation requires an
integrated approach and coherent decisions at all levels. He
said that GEF will provide significant financial resources for
the initiative.
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Cyril
Enweze, Vice-President of International Fund for
Agricultural Development
(IFAD), (left) emphasized that TerrAfrica builds a new
paradigm in addressing land degradation through sustainable
agriculture, partnership and cooperation, and said that
TerrAfrica will strengthen the linkage between environment and
poverty and contribute to improving livelihoods of the
poor in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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J.
Warren Evans, Director, Environment Department,
World Bank, (center) highlighted that the new dimension
of TerrAfrica lies in that it sets a stage for partnership,
cooperation and collective actions in addressing land
degradation. He also said that TerrAfrica has a potential to
mobilize financial resources.
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Concluding
the launching
of TerrAfrica, UNCCD Executive Secretary Diallo said
that TerrAfrica is an alternative business model for
sustainable agriculture and that it will help to better
channel financing for addressing land degradation.
Above photo L-R: President Musyoka and UNCCD
Executive Secretary Diallo
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PLENARY:
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STATEMENTS
BY UN AGENCIES AND REGIONAL GROUPS:
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UNDP
called for a focus on the interlinkages
of
multilateral
environmental agreements (MEAs) and
MDGs,
as well as a rights-based approach to addressing land tenure
reform.
Above photo: Olav
Kjørven (UNDP)
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CBD highlighted
the consequences of rapid biodiversity loss
to ecosystem services
and the synergies between MEAs in areas linked to
combating desertification.
Above photo: David Coates (CBD) |
UNFCCC
described the close links that exist between climate change
and desertification, and the importance of the upcoming UNFCCC
COP-11 in Montreal.
Above photo: Feng Gao (UNFCCC)
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CUBA, for the G-77/CHINA,
stressed that the creation of economic opportunities in drylands
is only a means to the
greater goal of attaining social improvement. The
UK, for the
EU, noted
that CCD
highlights links between poverty and land degradation, and said
that UNCCD is a
unique forum to disseminate best
practices.
AFRICAN MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
ON THE ENVIRONMENT
stressed the impact of land degradation in Africa on food
security, and said
that developed countries had been unable to adequately support the
Secretariat, and proposed
that CRIC should become a permanent body of the COP. SAUDI ARABIA, on
behalf of the Asian Group,
reported progress in the
implementation of national action programmes in Asia,
emphasized capacity building for addressing land degradation, and called on all developed
countries and international agencies to provide assistance to affected
countries. ARGENTINA,
for GRULAC,
called
for research on ecosystems to find solutions to dryland
management and environmentally friendly production systems for
sustainable development.
Above photos L-R: Pedro Cardoso
(Cuba); Adam Wood (UK); Abdul-Hakim Rajab Elwaer,
President, African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN); Abdu
G. A. Al Assiri (Saudi Arabia) and Octavio Pérez Pardo (Argentina)
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ENB SNAPSHOTS:
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