The objective of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is to combat land degradation and desertification and mitigate the effects of drought through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development. The functions of the secretariat are, among others, (a) to make arrangements for sessions of the Conference of the Parties (COP) and its Subsidiary Bodies established under the Convention and to provide them with services as required; (b) to compile and transmit reports submitted to it; (c) to facilitate assistance to affected developing country Parties, on request, particularly
those in Africa, in the compilation and communication of information required under the Convention; (d) to coordinate its activities with the secretariats of other relevant international bodies and conventions.
The Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Unit serves the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC). It links scientific knowledge with implementation, planning and policies, with the aim to ensure that findings and opportunities produced by science are effectively channelled to benefit field activities to implement the UNCCD.
At the thirteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 13), country Parties adopted the UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework (decision 7/COP.13)1 that not only provides guidance to all UNCCD stakeholders and partners on how to implement the Convention, but also serves as a monitoring tool for the CRIC to assess implementation efforts undertaken by Parties. Under this strategic framework and every four years, Parties report, among others, on the progress towards five strategic objectives related to the condition of ecosystems and populations, drought, global environmental benefits and financial and non-financial resources to support the implementation of the Convention (i.e. strategic objectives 1-5). Indicators used 1 https://www.unccd.int/sites/default/files/sessions/documents/2017-11/cop21add1_eng.pdf
for reporting on the UNCCD 2018-2030 Strategic Framework are those identified by Parties in decisions 22/COP.11 (for strategic objectives 1, 2 and 4), 11/COP.14 (for strategic objective 3) and 11/COP.14 (for strategic objective 5).
In line with various decisions adopted by its Conference of the Parties (COP), the UNCCD secretariat has the mandate of facilitating reporting by country Parties through the provision of guidance, default data and an online reporting platform. Leveraging its reporting mechanism, the UNCCD has also begun a process of transforming its existing databases in order to collect data from national statistical systems for the purposes of reporting on SDG indicator 15.3.1 (i.e. “Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area”) and providing a storyline for the UN’s annual global SDG progress report.