The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) meeting will be held today, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the high-level meeting virtually at 7:30 PM today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the President of the Conference of the parties to the UNCCD’s 14th session.
The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification will assess the progress of the nations in battling the issue of land degradation and map the further path towards revival and restoration of healthy lands on a global scale. The president of the UN general assembly, Volkan Bozkir, will convene the meeting with the assistance of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. According to the advisory issued by the UNCCD, many world leaders, government representatives, ministers, international organizations, United Nations institutions, civil society groups, as well as members from the general public.
Along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Deputy UN-Secretary General Amina Mohamed, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Ibrahim Thiaw, and Coordinator of the Association of Peul Women and Autochthonous Peoples of Chad (AFPAT), Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim will also address the high-level meeting. The meeting will also focus on the formation and implementation of National Drought Plans. However, the centre of the entire SDG agenda will be land restoration. The plan will also include biodiversity, climate, and disaster-risk reduction as its components.
The advisory released by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification also said, “Land is the foundation of our societies and is a cornerstone to global food security and environmental health, zero hunger, poverty eradication and affordable energy. It underpins the success of the entire 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.”
India is a nation that has been facing an acute water shortage for several decades now. A large number of lakes in the country are on the verge of drying up and need immediate attention. These lakes are in dire need of conservation and restoration. In one of the speeches on ‘Man Ki Baat’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for the assistance of the media as a tool to propagate the initiatives to a broader audience.
In compliance, iTV network, a renowned media organization, launched ‘Aakhri Boond’, supposedly the biggest water conservation initiative in the country. The campaign aims to educate people about the grave consequences of wasting water and lead the population on a path of judicial water usage and prudent conservation.
