- World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is observed on 17th June every year.
- The day is observed to spread awareness among people about the cooperation required to combat desertification and the effects of drought.
- This day was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly resolution A/RES/49/115 on January 30, 1995, after the day when United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification is drafted.
- The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development declares that nations must do their part in combatting desertification and drought.
- Specifically, SDG Goal 15: Life on Land states the resolve of the United Nations and the SDG signatory nations to halt and reverse land degradation.
- The objectives of Desertification and Drought Day are:
- To promote public awareness of the issue.
- To acknowledge that desertification and drought can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and cooperation at all levels.
- To strengthen implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa.
- 2021 will focus on turning degraded land into healthy land. Restoring degraded land brings economic resilience, creates jobs, raises incomes and increases food security.
- It can also lessen the impacts of climate change and underpin a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
- The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will work with the Ministry of Environment (MINAE) of Costa Rica, the host of the global observance, as we recover from COVID-19.