UNCCD Backstopping Mandate

Established in 1994, the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The Committee on Science and Technology (CST) is established as a subsidiary body of the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention to provide information and advice on scientific and technological matters relating to combating desertification and land degradation and mitigating the effects of drought.

Through sound scientific expertise and technical support, Switzerland’s policy dialogue contributes to an effective policy and working agenda of UNCCD

UNCCD, CST, Science Policy Interface
GPFS

GPFS is enabled to strategically prioritize and position Switzerland within the UNCCD scientific bodies through:

• scientific support, and
• the participation of scientific experts at UNCCD meetings as part of the Swiss delegation.
  

Expected results:  

Switzerland influences CST decisions with scientifically sound contributions and is recognized as a reliable partner and participant in CST activities.

Results from previous phases:  

The previous phase bundled three different mandates (A+RD network, Global Donor Platform for Rural Development and CDE backstopping).
The key results from the previous phase mentioned below focus only on the CDE backstopping mandate to support GPFS on UNCCD matters:

• Scientifically sound contributions with influence on the decisions taken in the UNCCD CST meetings
• Swiss submission of the required data for  the UNCCD country reporting was deliverd in due time and was of high quality
  

• WOCAT (Global Sustainable Land Management Platform; University of Bern – Centre for Development and Environment)
• International Land Coalition

Phase 6 01.06.2017 - 31.12.2020   (Completed)