The seventeenth session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 17) to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place at the Arthur Chung Conference Center in Georgetown, Guyana, from 28 to 30 January 2019.

CRIC 17 will be the first intersessional meeting since the adoption of the new UNCCD Strategic Framework (2018-2030), as well as revised terms of reference for the review body, by the 13th session of the UNCCD Conference of the Parties (COP 13) in September 2017. In line with the new reporting templates and procedures, the meeting will initiate a review of progress under the five Strategic Objectives, based on default data on biophysical indicators provided by the UNCCD Secretariat in December 2017.

The session will also facilitate interactive exchanges among Parties and their development partners on topics selected by the second meeting of the CRIC Bureau in October 2018. The themes of the three interactive dialogues are:

• progress in implementing voluntary land degradation neutrality (LDN) targets and insights on how to translate UNCCD progress indicators into action;
• initial experiences in the implementation of the Gender Action Plan adopted at COP 13; and
• emerging innovative financing opportunities to combat land degradation.