Message of the UN Secretary General for the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought

(June 17, 2010) The United Nations' World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is annually observed on June 17, since December 1994, to highlight the urgent need to curb the desertification process and combat the effects of drought. In his message for the day, the UN Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon said that more than 1 billion poor and vulnerable people are living in the world’s dry lands, where efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals face particular challenges and thus have lagged behind. Almost three quarters of rangelands show symptoms of desertification. Over the past 40 years, nearly one third of the world’s cropland has become unproductive, often ending up abandoned, he added. Further he said that the unremitting stress of drought, famine and deepening poverty threatens to create social strains, in turn creating the potential for involuntary migration, the breakdown of communities, political instability and armed conflict. Indeed, human, environmental and social vulnerability come together with unusual force and symmetry in the world’s dry lands. Climate change will only exacerbate such pressures. In this International Year of Biodiversity, said Mr Ban, we must remember that dry lands are areas of enormous biological diversity and productivity. When we protect and restore dry lands, we strengthen food security; we address climate change; we help the poor gain control over their destiny; and we accelerate progress towards achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. He invited all to reaffirm the commitment to combating desertification and land degradation, and mitigating the effects of drought on this World Day.