SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM WILL NOT LAG BEHIND IN SEARCH FOR CONCRETE SOLUTIONS TO DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT

Press Release
SG/SM/7021
OBV/98

SECRETARY-GENERAL STRESSES UNITED NATIONS SYSTEM WILL NOT LAG BEHIND IN SEARCH FOR CONCRETE SOLUTIONS TO DESERTIFICATION AND DROUGHT

Following is the text of a message of Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, which will be observed on 17 June:

Today, 17 June 1999, we celebrate, for the fifth time, World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought. It commemorates the adoption, in 1994, of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

More than 110 countries are affected by desertification. Africa is suffering most, but it would be a big mistake to think that this is a problem that concerns only developing countries. North America and several countries in the European Union are also affected. Moreover, desertification has repercussions on biological diversity, climate and freshwater supplies, against which no country, in any part of the world, can protect itself.

Desertification leads directly to the loss of fertile lands and a decline in agricultural productivity; this, in turn, is reflected in famine, population displacement and, all too often, social and political conflict. Ecology and the well-being of populations, environment and sustainable development -- the indissoluble link is, once again, clearly revealed.

The increase in the number of parties to the Convention -- last year the number rose from 125 to 151 -- shows how committed the international community is to a process that specifically addresses the commitments made at the Earth Summit in Rio. This year promises to maintain this momentum, notably with an international forum on cities and desertification, which has just brought the mayors of cities from all over the world to Bonn, and with the third session of the Conference of the Parties, which will take place in Brazil in November.

The United Nations system will not lag behind. The Secretariat of the Convention will continue to encourage all the organizations concerned to join in the search for concrete solutions, worked out not only with governments, but also with civil society, as provided for under the Convention.

Today we have an opportunity to reaffirm our support for all the initiatives taken to combat desertification at all levels, as well as our commitment to join forces to overcome the obstacles to sustainable development for all, including the degradation of arid lands and all its consequences -- environmental, economic, social and political. * *** *