(1st Meeting) Committee of the Whole - UNCCD COP17

Dear delegates, I ask you kindly to have a seat, we shall start right now. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, I call to order the first meeting of the Committee of the Whole of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification at its seventh session. Let me say at the outset that it's an honour to chair the work of this Committee of the Whole and I will personally put all my effort to guide a constructive process and to work documents in order to produce in sound decision. We have a strong responsibility never as on this occasion we could contribute to a more sustainable future for the people and the planets. And we should act altogether through open and fair discussion and reinforcing a collaborative approach. I look forward to working closely with all of you to ensure that we can successfully complete all the commitments assigned to the committee and report the result back to the COP next week. We have quite a substantial set of issues and I will be engaged with the facilitators and parties in the coming days so that our work can be expedited in our full agenda with a fully satisfying result. In our discussion over the next two weeks, I ask you to be open and to adopt a collaborative approach, but also mindful that compromise will be needed looking at positive and helpful results to reach our common objectives. Let us endeavour to manage redently but powerfully the large number of items on the agenda and the limited time available to us. I therefore encourage facilitators of the contact groups to pay attention to the management of the process and to allow for a timely conclusion of the negotiations without neglecting our responsibility to reach equilibrated and effective results. As you may recall, the Conference of the Parties earlier this afternoon agreed to proceed on the basis of the provisional agenda for the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties, as contained in document ICCD/COP17/1/Rev.1. Pending further consultation with a view to reaching a consensus on the agenda and adopted the tentative schedule of work contained in the annex of the same documents. Paragraph 16 of the annotation to the agenda lists the item that have been allocated to the committee of the hall. This encompass agenda item two, five without gender matters, seven and eight, paragraph B and C. I now invite the committee to turn its attention to establishment of the contact groups and the appointment of the facilitator of this contact group. In line with past practice, it's proposed that two contact groups of the committee are established. Contact group one on item seven, program and budgets. Contact group two on cow matters other than program and budgets, namely agenda item two, 2018-2030 Strategic Framework of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and its sub-items B, enhancing the implementation of the Convention and its 2018-2030 Strategic Framework of the United Nation Convention to Combat Desertification and B, review of progress in the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification Communication Plan. Agenda item 5, policy frameworks and thematic issues without gender matters. Agenda item 7, programme and budgets for the biennium 2027-2028. And agenda item 8, procedural matters and its sub-items. B, participation and involvement of the private sector in meeting and process of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification and the business engagement strategy. See programme of work for the 18th session of the Conference of the Parties. It's my understanding that the following colleagues have been proposed as facilitator for these contact groups. Ms. Marine Collignon of France has been proposed as facilitator of the contact group two on other matters. Regarding the contact group on programme and budgets, I will facilitate the group until a facilitator has been approved. My that the committee wish to establish the contact groups as proposed and to appoint the respective facilitator for the contact group to as I have just announced it. Russian Federation, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chairperson. A clarification if I may regarding the mandate of group two on issues, certain issues, may we understand, do we understand that within the mandate of the group there will be agenda item three included regarding the report of the IWG? That is now agenda item three on the provisional agenda.

Thank you so much, Russian Federation. As I mentioned before, item three is not included in the Contact Group mandates. I have listed all items, items two, sub-items B and D, item five, item seven, item 8 sub-item B and C. Is it okay? Russian Federation? Russian Federation, you have the floor.

Thank you, yes.

Thank you so much, Russian Federation. Now I will come back to the establishment of contact groups and nomination of facilitator. I hear no objection it's so decided distinguished delegates I now invite the committee to begin its consideration of agenda item seven entitled program and budgets we'll begin our consideration with the topic program and budget for the B 2027 2026 for which the committee has before it the document iccd COP17/7 and ICCD/COP17/12. The topic financial performance for the Convention Trust Funds for which the Committee has before it the documents ICCD/COP17/INF/3 and the topic report on the status of contribution to the Convention Trust Funds 2025-2026 for which the Committee has before it the documents ICCD/COP18/INF/4 and seven. I will first ask the secretariat to introduce the four documents and then we will hear a pre-recorded video presentation by our representative of the United Nations Board of Auditors on the main findings of the report of the United Nations Board of Auditors on the financial statements of the United Nations Convention to Combat Certification for the year ended 31 December 2025. The floor will be open for interventions after both speakers have finished their presentation. I now give the floor to the representative of the UNCCD Secretariat to introduce the aforementioned documents. Secretariat, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. I am pleased to introduce to you the documents that present the proposed UNCCD programme budget and the financial performance. Let me start with the financial performance. The documentation before you provides an overview of the income and expenditure of all Convention Trust Funds for the biennium 2025-2026 as at end of May 2026. most attention is given to information concerning the status of the core budget, while also the other trust funds are covered. With regard to the budget, the Secretariat has prepared the document before you, responding to decision 10/COP/16, which includes a proposal for the programme and budget, for the biennium 2027, 2028 and a draft for the updated financial rules. The budget document presents three budget scenarios and proposes a budget that combines elements from all of them. That proposal seeks to secure the delivery of services under the UNCCD through maintaining the current level of approved staffing. It suggests limiting all other expenses under the core budget. For the first time, an integrated approach is applied to the UNCCD budget which seeks to make it easier for parties to have a comprehensive picture of all UNCCD resources. This approach also indicates what these resources are meant to deliver. The Secretariat looks forward to further discussions with Parties on the budget and these issues in the course of the next weeks. Thank you for your attention.

I thank the representative of the UNCCDT secretariat. We will now see a pre-recorded video presentation of the representative of the United Nations Board of Auditors introducing the reports. Thank you.

The interpreters regret the sound is very poor. We will do our best.

To give clarity to my words, for the Committee of Commissioners, Accounting Commissioners of the United Nations, the Board, and for the Desertification Convention, I will use the term UNCCD throughout my presentation. I'm Philippe Lavastre, Deputy Director of the Board for France, and I work in particular on the report for UNCCD. I will share certain slides to present this report. As I have said, it covers 2025. I'll divide it into three parts. First, the context of the audit. Secondly, the main findings and the follow up to the recommendations. As regards the context, the report is the result of the work carried out during four missions, two for the financial audit in November 2025 and April 2026, two for the performance audit in September 2025 and April 2026. This report was submitted to the Secretariat. A first version to which the Secretary could provide answers led to some changes and it was then reviewed by the three Member States of the Board and therefore of the Board of Auditors and was signed on 22 July in New York by the three Presidents of the Supreme Audit Institutions concerned, the first, the French Court of Audit, the President of the Court of Audit of Brazil and the Auditor General of the PRC. In addition to myself who supervised the report, six auditors participated in the financial audit and four in the performance audit, including auditors from the Court of Auditors of the Kingdom of Morocco. I want to thank the Secretariat for the support provided throughout the reporting period. This The objective is to have an independent opinion and to study the role. And our approach is aligned with international audit standards.

We've been trying to work on key audit issues to make sure that we can put recommendations that can improve things going forward. So I will focus on the key findings, beginning with the financial audit rather than the performance audit. The Board of Auditors has taken result an overview of the financial audit situation in the UNCCD. In line with international accounting standards, the IPSAS norms, the income for 2025 was $46 million, which was a drop with regard to the previous period, where the income was $61 million. $34.1 million represents expenditure, again a drop of 15.1% in terms of expenditure compared with the previous reporting period where it tended to stood at $40 million, which means that in the period under review, the overall savings $12 million as opposed to $20 million in the previous period. Liabilities to the $44.3 million and between, and we saw an increase in $14.7 million in the difference between assets and liabilities. Again, a drop compared to the previous year. These financial outcomes were mostly influenced by a drop in incomes as it was, which is partly offset by voluntary contributions in 2025. But this is mostly explained by the failure to pay contributions by some of the largest donors who are parties to the convention. As I said, this is partially offset by voluntary contributions, but also partially offset by a decrease in expenditure during the reporting period, which I also referred to earlier, which was largely explained by a significant cut in travel. Several adjustments to the accounts were made during the auditing period by the Secretariat following a request, and that was a request that we made before the final report was published. And I'd like to thank all the Secretariat teams for their reactivity to our different requests. This was the case, for example, for the accounting, how the account handling of a liability linked to non-spent contributions under CRI 21 in the host country agreement. As far as the financial aspect of the audit is concerned, we have just one recommendation, which I've displayed here on the screen. You'll see it at the top of the table. It has to do with the classification of provisions for short or long-term annual paid leave in order to ensure that these are classified or accounted for in line with IPSAS standard 39. The committee requested that the secretariat provide evidentiary proof, documented, substantial, verifiable proof to be able to justify the current classification of this liability linked to annual leave, particularly how this is seen as a current liability or a non-current liability. The Secretary of the UNCCD accepted this recommendation with two conditions, which we believe to be entirely legitimate, which have to do with how data is obtained by the UN Secretary-General and by the consultant responsible, I beg your pardon, for the actuarial calculations. Having dealt with the financial audit, I'll now turn to the performance audit. which is focused on the global mechanism in particular and how this has been used as an action lever by the UNCCD Secretariat. Now, the global mechanism was established on Article 21 of the convention. It's the operational arm of the UNCCD, particularly when it comes to mobilization of resources for implementation of projects in the field, particularly for most affected countries. This is a very unique tool or mechanism when you compare it with the other Rio conventions, we don't find anything similar elsewhere. Other conventions don't have such an institutional mechanism or at least such a direct institutional mechanism to sub help them in mobilizing financing. So although there's a lot that's positive that can be said about this mechanism, we did have some questions vis-a-vis where it had been placed within the secretariat since this global mechanism was transferred to Bonn following a decision at COP10. The report, the performance order report details the fact that institutional coherence between the secretariat and the global mechanism needs to be strengthened or further bolstered. Clear rules of procedure on the relation between the global mechanism and the secretariat and the delineation thereof also need to be drawn up. Roles and responsibilities are often overlap or murky, particularly in areas of common interest such as the mobilization of resources and partnerships. There's a lot of overlap in actions between certain secretariat units and the global mechanisms. All of this in our view needs to be tidied up. The report also focuses on the initial and principal findings on the organization and internal processes of the global mechanism, i.e. how it's set up, its organigram, how it works, which again we feel could stand to be further clarified. All the priorities set by the COP have been internally translated into a biennial work program for the global mechanism and there is a regular follow up by the secretariat. The methodology and the working hypothesis used to define financing mechanisms for the mechanism are again an area which we think clarification is needed. The reports presented to the parties provide information which is sometimes imprecise or partial, details lacking on resources being mobilized, whether that is on the implementation of the biennial work program or the implementation of the convention as a whole. So in terms of this performance audit, given what I've just said, it will not come as a surprise to you that we issued several different recommendations on how these some points need to be improved. And the majority of these recommendations were accepted by the Secretariat. And you can see more detail in the report. So this brings me back to outstanding recommendations from previous period. And on this slide, you can see a little table which covers the which indicates that we issued 13 new recommendations this year. There's those 30 new recommendations, but there were 28 outstanding recommendations from previous years, most of them concerning financial management, but also risk management, budgetary management, the links between science and policy and the implementation organization, in implementation, I beg your pardon, of COP decisions and the organization of the COP itself. And they have been the subject of different reports issued by the board. Some of these recommendations go back a long way because if you look at them, they were initially made by our German predecessors in 2020, 2021. Now, when we finally signed off on the report for this year on the 22nd of July, so about three weeks ago, eight of those 28 outstanding recommendations that we'd highlighted, about 28% had been implemented in the interim. Twelve are currently in the process of being implemented, so about 43% and five representing 18% of the total are no longer valid. So five have not been implemented and three are no longer valid. So eight overall have not been implemented either because they won't be because they're no longer pertinent or because it's still pending and work hasn't begun. So several of these recommendations are outstanding, but for them to be implemented, the Secretariat does need the support of the UN Secretary General, which we hope we will receive rapidly. I do want to make it abundantly clear that as I come to the end of this presentation, and this is our fourth audit campaign for the UNCCD, in our six-year mandate. We have two left to go. I want to conclude by expressing our appreciation for the good working relationship we have with the Secretariat. If you have any questions, as I expect has been made clear to you, I'm speaking to you via a pre-recorded video message, so I can't respond to your questions now, today, but perhaps if they're sent to me in writing, given the time differences, it might take me a little while, it might not be until tomorrow, but I hope to get back to you and be able to answer those questions. I wish you a good meeting. Thank you very much.

Once again, the interpreters would like to point out that the sound recording was poor and so not everything could be delivered. Thank you.

Those wishing to take the floor are invited to press the microphone button. The floor will be given in the order of inscriptions with priority for group statements. If you are making a statement on behalf of a group, please kindly let the Secretariat know so that you could be given the priority. I kindly request speakers to keep their statements brief in order to hear from as many speakers as possible. I now give the floor to European Union.

Thank you, Chair, and good afternoon, colleagues, representatives. I'm speaking on behalf of the European Union and its member states. The EU and its member states thank the secretariat for the preparation of all budget related documents, including the three budget scenarios for 2027, 2028, as mandated by the budget decision adopted at the COP16. We also note that the Secretariat prepared an additional fourth scenario to reflect the resource needs more accurately. We also appreciate the efforts of the Secretariat in organizing the online consultations on budget matters that took place in spring, which helped to a timely understanding of the current situation. The COP17 will need to agree on measures to ensure an efficient and effective UNCCD Secretariat and a sound budget that is fit for purpose with due regard for cost effectiveness and which allows the fulfilment of the UNCCD's objectives. The current difficulties identified by the UNCCD Secretariat, such as the shortfall in the payment of the core budget contributions and depletion of the working capital reserve, need to be addressed. We commend the call for an integrated budget to better reflect the financial implications of the various requests addressed to the Secretariat. We are looking forward to the upcoming deliberations and stand ready to contribute constructively to the negotiations based on the Secretariat's documents. Thank you very much.

I thank the representative of the European Union. I now give the floor to Brazil.

Thank you, Chair. In the matter of program and budget, Brazil supports a balanced outcome that preserves the operational capacity of the Secretariat and the global mechanism and ensures the effective implementation of the agreed work program. This should include enabling the secretariat to fill the currently frozen capacity building position in line with the work program and the mandates adopted at COP16. Budgetary discipline is necessary, but it should not result in the freezing of critical posts or in mandated functions becoming dependent on uncertain voluntary contributions. As we enter technical discussions, we should not lose sight of our overall goal, This budget must ensure that the Convention is equipped to address land degradation, desertification and drought, to support national implementation and to respond to the realities faced by communities whose livelihoods, food security and access to water are increasingly affected by these challenges. An effective work program requires adequate and reliable resources, as well as a transparent distinction between assessed resources, voluntary funding, and program support resources. The financial sustainability of the convention also requires the timely and full payment of assessed contributions. At the same time, we must distinguish parties facing genuine financial or structural constraints from those that have the capacity to pay but remain unwilling to do so. The consequences of deliberate nonpayment by major contributors should not be transferred to other parties or weaken the implementation of agreed mandates. In this spirit of fairness, we should avoid additional financial burdens for contributing parties, particularly developing country parties, including through a clear and equitable treatment of bank charges, following the example of United Nations agencies such as UNESCO. Brazil is ready to engage constructively. In this difficult multilateral environment, reaching consensus on a sound and sustainable budget is essential to safeguard the Convention and its ability to deliver for Parties and affected populations. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Brazil and now I give the floor to China.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

China is a major contributor to the core budget of the Commission.

We take our obligations most seriously to comply with the Convention by paying up in time and in full our dues, including this year.

At present, the world economy is facing heavy downward pressures.

The United Nations and other international organizations are generally affected by liquidity crisis.

Financial problems is a common issue facing all the MEAs.

When it comes to the UNCCD, we believe that we need to expand and economize resources at the same time.

We understand the requests of the Secretariat.

For budget increase and we support them when they are considered reasonable so as to.

Ensure the Convention can play a greater role.

At the same time, we would also like to suggest that the Secretariat should reform the budgeting mechanisms by standardizing the procedures of spending resources, reducing staff costs, using AI to achieve efficiency gains, and expanding resource sources so as to ensure that every cent is spent in places.

Where it really matters so as to help ensure that the Convention can fulfil its mandate and mission.

On the other hand, we should both tackle the problems at its source and the symptoms.

A few Parties have been in arrears for many years. This is one of the major reasons for the resource shortage facing the Secretariat.

We should do more to urge those Parties to pay up their dues in time.

Thank you.

I thank the representative of China and I give the floor now to Japan.

Thank thank you chair my statement is on with regard to the program and budget for the biennium 2027 to 2028 at the outset We would like to emphasize that the basic principle of the government of Japan is to seek zero nominal growth for the core budget of international organizations, including the UNCCD. This principle aims to ensure that the budget of the international organizations are managed in a way to pursue cost effectiveness and efficiency. At the same time, additional resource requirements for operational aspects of UNCCDs work should be adequately covered by voluntary contributions and external financial mechanisms such as the JEF and GCF. In fact, Japan, as one of the top donors since the establishment of the Global Environment Facility, has been a strong supporter to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought. Substantially large number of projects and programs and more than 600 million US dollars have been invested in drought mitigation and adaptation during the JEF VIII period for the past four years, as proven by the JEF Secretariat report. Mr. Chair, turning to the issue of working capital reserve, Japan is of the view that the level of the reserve can be kept as minimum in order not to request additional contributions from contracting parties while maintaining the zero nominal growth of the administrative budget. Regarding the after-service health insurance, ASHI, practice of the UNCCD should be in line with those of the UN General Assembly. Regarding the proposed increase in the number of permanent staff, The necessity shall be assessed carefully against the possibility of covering the tasks by the current staffs or temporary consultants in light of difficult economic and fiscal situations faced by many Parties. Thank you for that attention.

I thank the representative of Japan and I give the floor now to Azerbaijan.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. Madam President, Mr. Chair, Executive Secretary, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it's a great honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Republic of Azerbaijan. At the outset, allow me to express our sincere appreciation to the government and people of Mongolia for their warm hospitality and for hosting the 17th session of UNCCD COP. here in this beautiful city of Ulaanbaatar. Congratulate on officially assuming presidency, wish good luck and express Azerbaijan's readiness to support it for a successful COP. Land degradation and drought affect nearly half of the world's population and impose economic costs estimated at approximately one trillion USD annually. Their impacts extend various areas, making them increasingly recognized as systemic global risks. We wish UNCCP COP17 every success as it convenes to deliberate and adapt decisions to address these pressing challenges. Some of my country's regions are arid and semi-arid and are vulnerable to desertification, water scarcity, land degradation and drought. In response to these challenges, Azerbaijan has placed sustainable land management, ecosystem restoration, biodiversity conservation, afforestation, and climate resilience among its key priorities. Over recent years, Azerbaijan has implemented extensive greening programs. Through cooperation between government institutions, civil society organizations, and local communities, millions of trees have been planted, contributing to improved environmental quality and restoration of degraded lands. Azerbaijan's valuable experiences in rehabilitating degraded industrial lands showed that even severely degraded industrial lands can be successfully rehabilitated. This experience proved particularly relevant to the environmental challenges in Azerbaijan's liberated territories, where nearly three decades of military occupation resulted in significant environmental degradation through the destruction of ecosystems, unsustainable exploitation of natural resources, deforestation, land degradation, contamination with landmines and other unlawful activities. Land rehabilitation, including especially by demining, ecological restoration, environmental and other central components of reconstruction, ecological restoration are central components of reconstruction and restoration efforts. Another pressing challenge confronting our region is the declining water level of the Caspian Sea, world's largest inland water body. Since mid-1990s, the sea level has decreased by more than 2.5 meters, and the pace has accelerated in recent years. This trend has far reaching environmental, economic, and social consequences and is increasingly contributing to ecosystem and land degradation, as well as desertification across the region. While sea level rise receives significant international attention, the implications of declining water levels in enclosed water bodies remain insufficiently recognized. Azerbaijan is working to raise international awareness of this emerging challenge, which also merits greater attention in relevant UNCTD forum. The challenges before us are increasingly interconnected. Land degradation, drought, and water scarcity, biodiversity loss, and climate change are mutually reinforcing and cannot be addressed in isolation. The Rio Trio initiative launched in 2024 by Azerbaijan's UNFCCC COP29 presidency in partnership with the incoming presidencies of the other Rio conventions, that is Colombia's CBD COP16 and Saudi Arabia's UNCCD COP16, provides a pioneering platform to strengthen collaboration in addressing these interconnected challenges. Through a joint declaration, the three presidencies committed to advancing urgent, coordinated, and practical action unlocking synergies across the conventions and promoting integrated solutions. This initiative also calls for stronger engagement among governments, multilateral institutions, civil society and other stakeholders. It is encouraging to see Rio-Trio synergies stand high on the agendas of the presidencies of this year's COPs. The contributions made by Mr. President, in conclusion, I, Azerbaijan reaffirms its strong commitment to advancing sustainable land management, combating desertification and drought, restoring degraded ecosystems, and strengthening resilience to climate change. We believe that addressing these challenges requires enhanced international cooperation, greater integration across the Rio Conventions, and meaningful engagement of all relevant stakeholders. Azerbaijan stands ready to share its experience and contributes constructively to the outcomes of UNCCD COP17. We wish the 17th session of the Conference of Parties every success and look forward to working together towards a more resilient, sustainable and land degradation neutral future. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Azerbaijan and I would like to recall member states to be brief in their intervention. So I give now the floor to South Africa.

Thank you, Mr. Chairperson, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, and ladies and gentlemen. South Africa has the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of Africa group. Africa Group expresses its appreciation to the government and people of Mongolia for hosting COP17 in this beautiful seat of Ulaanbaatar with undulating landscape rich in range land for its extensive livestock production. Africa Group welcomes the report by the Secretariat and Global Mechanism for the preparation of the proposed 2027-28 programme and budget in line with decision 10/COP16. We recognize that a credible, predictable, and adequate budget is not merely an administrative or operational matter, but an essential instrument for delivering commitments and priorities agreed by the parties. For Africa, this agenda item is central to our collective efforts to address desertification, land degradation, and drought while advancing food security, sustainable land management, and ecosystem restoration. The Africa Group therefore calls for greater coherence between the programme and budget and the Convention strategic objectives to ensure that available resources are directed towards the mandate of the Convention. However, Chairperson, Africa Group cannot make informed decision without a comprehensive analysis of the three scenarios requested by the COP16. Given Africa remains a region that is most affected by DLDD, the group therefore requests the Secretariat to justify the budget growth when substantial uncommitted exists and without making comprehensive analysis of the three scenarios, including the implications for mandated activities and utilization of unspent balances. Africa holds the view that the core budget responsibilities cannot be shifted to voluntary contributions that creates uncertainties, donor dependency and unequal of convention prioritization. Africa therefore approached the consideration of 2027-28 budget programme with a clear expectation that the lessons arising from budgetary difficulties experienced following COP16 in Riyadh will be fully taken into account in COP16. We emphasise the unresolved budgetary uncertainty plays a disproportionate burden on developing countries, particularly African countries that are among those vulnerable to DLDD. Chairperson, Africa welcomes the move towards an integrated results-based programme and budget as a step forward towards a greater transparency, accountability and alignment between mandates resources and results. However, such budget must clearly link mandates, programme resources and accountability. We therefore call for full transparency in resource allocation across all programmes, appropriate lines, including support to the global mechanism and core priorities. Africa attaches the highest importance to transparency and accountability in the management of resources and transit to the convention. Chairperson, Africa cannot accept increasing mandates without commensurate predictable resources. Drought is intensifying, land degradation is worsening, pressures on food and water securities are rising. The convention therefore requires adequate, predictable, sustainable and additional resources. The budget must safeguard the Convention's ability to deliver on its core mandate, particularly for affected developing countries. Excessive dependencies on voluntary funding risk undermining predictability and impartiality of the Convention. In line with the COP decision, the secretariat should provide reports to the parties on assessed and voluntary contributions, unspent balances, expenditure, budget transfers, staffing and program costs. We consider independent auditing and effective implementation of audit recommendations to be essential elements of sound financial governance and its implementation thereof. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I thank the representative of South Africa and they give the floor now to Syrian Arab Republic.

Thank you for giving me the floor. At the outset, I would like warmly to thank the government and people of the Republic of Mongolia for the warm welcome and for organizing this session. We also thank the Secretariat for the efforts made to organize this session. The Syrian delegation wishes this conference every success in achieving the results that would benefit the Convention. We wish to express our gratitude for the efforts made by the Secretariat to produce the programme and budget document. The final level of the budget must make it possible for the Convention to carry out all of its missions without undermining the technical and technical cooperation pillars. States parties must be able to obtain all necessary services, particularly the developing countries. Technical cooperation is an important commitment. It must support states whose income is limited and who are experiencing difficulty in meeting the goals of the Convention. We take this opportunity to emphasize that the economic sanctions against Syria in recent years have been an obstacle to Syria meeting its financial and international obligations and thus Currently in Syria, in order fully to meet our obligations at the international level, including this convention, we have to make a particular effort. Thank you.

Republic, and now I give the floor to Morocco.

Chairperson, excellencies, distinguished delegates, allow me, on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco, to warmly congratulate you on your election to chair this Conference of the Parties. We also express thanks to the Government and people of Mongolia for their warm welcome and for the excellent arrangements made to ensure the success of our work. We thank the secretariat for the work done to prepare the document on the programme and the biennial exercise 2025 to 2026. Morocco aligns with the statement made on behalf of the African Group and in its national capacity it makes additional comments as follows. Chairperson, Morocco is experiencing particularly straightened financial circumstances for almost a decade before 2026. The convention had seen zero growth in its budget despite corrective measures taken. The financing is not adequate for the mission. and the real capacities of the secretariat and the global mechanisms cannot be fully supported. Morocco therefore concerns the concerns expressed by the African group regarding the need to ensure an alignment between the responsibilities that before the convention and the resources available. There must be adequate financial, human and technical resources available to the Secretariat. We shall carefully examine the various scenarios submitted for the budget. biennium. Which show the need for a balance between maintaining adequate capacities. And meeting the financial constraints that are imposed. We point to the new needs identified at the digital transition and artificial intelligence. These could help to improve the efficiency of the Convention's functioning, but must be closely linked to the priorities approved by the Parties and provide clear added value. Morocco also believes that the core budget must be the source of financing for the Convention's essential functioning. Voluntary contributions are important but cannot be substituted for regular budget financing. We attach particular importance to maintaining adequate resources for activities to be directly implemented by the parties, including capacity building, regional cooperation, South-South, science, technology and innovation, resilient drought resilience and support to projects and resource mobilization. We also support maintaining the appropriate resources for participation by representatives of States parties in the conventions meetings in order to ensure the inclusive and representative nature of the intergovernmental process. This must remain within the considerations. We believe that it must be possible to achieve a realistic balanced budget that is results based and provides a balance between the priorities and the resources available. Morocco stands ready to participate constructively in negotiations in order to find a budget that is adopted by consensus and provides the necessary resources to the mandate, taking into account the limitations of the parties. We are convinced that our collective will to ensure our ambitions and our responsibilities can be aligned with the resources made available. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Morocco. And as I said before, I ask kindly delegates to be brief in their statements. I have in my list now the representative from civil society, but I want to make sure if there is any intervention from member states. So, the floor now is given to civil society representative. Now, please, White, I have now the request of floor from the State of Palestine. You have the floor, State of Palestine.

Thank you, sir. Mr. President, Madam Executive Secretary, ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, the State of Palestine has the honor to participate in this COP17. We wish to express thanks to the government and people of Mongolia for the warm welcome. We thank them also for the slogan adopted for COP17. We trust that our Convention and all partners will maintain efforts to achieve tangible results. We thank the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its excellent Presidency of COP16. As you know, the state of Palestine is one of the Middle Eastern countries that are semi-arid and at risk of desertification and drought. We're also vulnerable to a lack of natural and human resources. We are not, this is not a political arena, but one of the main causes of desertification and drought is a transfer of property of Palestinians to Israelis. Furthermore, pastures are currently at risk. Conflicts and nature do not live happily side by side. We must protect the natural heritage. We have the right to live in peace in a natural environment which recognizes property rights and the participation of women and young people in development. We are aware of dangerous natural phenomena facing our Arab region, droughts, land degradation, This limits our financial and economic resources. We cannot access our lands for various reasons. Thus, there must be efforts to stop desertification, remedy droughts and reverse the trend towards land degradation, all of these elements are crucial in order to rehabilitate land and rehabilitate human beings. Our country is extremely vulnerable to desertification, damage to pastures and to lands. Thus, it is crucial to launch financial mechanisms that address all of these issues. We also know that there is a need to preserve the right to water and to food. These are pillars of sustainable development where there is land degradation. The state of Palestine hopes that the post-2030 strategy will have a greater focus on drought, land rehabilitation, resource preservation. My country is committed to working to rehabilitate lands, ensure pastoralists resilience in the worst affected areas. Thank you.

Thank you, representative of the state of Palestine. And now I give the floor to our representative of civil society.

Distinguished delegates, on behalf of civil society and indigenous peoples, we welcome the continued efforts in strengthening the implementation of the convention. However, as we review the financial performance of the convention trust funds, and the proposed program and budget for the upcoming biennium. We must recognize a critical reality, the scale of land degradation and drought crisis is growing faster than the resources available to address it. Civil society welcomes the efforts to maintain the operational effectiveness of the convention but we call for a stronger financial commitment from parties to ensure that the convention is equipped with predictable, adequate, accessible, and sustainable resources. First, we urge to the parties to strengthen core contribution to the convention trust funds. A convention addressing one of defining challenges of our century cannot depend on uncertainly and voluntarily commitments alone. Stable financing is essential for effective implementation, regional cooperation, scientific support, knowledge sharing, and meaningful engagement of stakeholders at all levels. Second, We call for greater transparency and accountability in financial planning and implementation. Financial resources must translate into measurable impacts on the ground and the quality of life. Communities affected by desertification and drought should be meaningfully participating and be inclusive in the implementation of international commitments that support restoration, resilience building, and sustainable livelihoods. Third, we emphasize the importance of investing directly in local actors. Indigenous peoples, local communities, youth, women-led groups, and grassroots level organizations are not mere beneficiaries. they are implementation partners and successful implementers also. Delegates, we call upon COP17 to send a clear message, invest in a peaceful and resilient future. Thank you everyone. I am Omioprapun Chakraborty from Bangladesh, representing DUIDF Bangladesh. Thank you.

I think the representative of civil society This was the last speaker on my list. I give now the floor to the representative of the UNCCD Secretariat to respond to questions posed and comments made.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to all that provided their statements and feedback concerning the program and budget. We have taken note of them. and look forward to discussing further at the Budget Contact Group.

I thank the representative of UNCCD Secretariat. While the representative of the Board of Auditors is not here at the COP, he is ready to respond to any question that may be asked by Parties. His response will be provided in writing soon after today's meeting. I now invite the Committee to turn to the report of the Evaluation Office contained in document ICCD/COP17/INF/2. I give the floor to the representative of the UNCCD Secretariat to introduce the document.

Thank you, sir, and good afternoon, distinguished delegates. The UNCCD Secretariat and the Global Mechanism are requested to regularly evaluate their activities by the United Nations regulations and rules governing programme aspects of the budget and also in line with the standard procedures of many donors. Accordingly, since 2014, selected activities concerning the Secretariat and the GM have been methodically evaluated by independent experts. and the evaluation reports are briefly presented to the COP under this sub-agenda item on programme and budget. During the biennium 2025-2026, two evaluations were managed by the UNCCD Evaluation Office as follows: the evaluation of the Peace Forest Initiative and the evaluation of the project Long-term Institutional Support for integrating gender equality into the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification. You will find the full evaluation reports on the UNCCD website under the section on the Evaluation Office, and I will not go into detail of their contents now. Let me only mention briefly that both evaluations were prepared by independent evaluators and based on systematically collected and analysed feedback from external stakeholders. Many of you present here today have also participated in the evaluations one way or another. Let me thank you for taking the time and sharing your knowledge and views. Going back to the report of the evaluation of FESR topic now, in that document, you will also find brief summaries of the follow-up to earlier evaluations. Furthermore, it outlines the work programme of the Evaluation Office for the coming years. As usual, this outline is only indicative and may be subject to changes. I would like to take this opportunity to inform you that we will again carry out a participant survey at the end of this COP. This means that at the end of the COP, we will distribute a link to an online questionnaire on different aspects of this COP and ask you kindly to fill it in with the aim to hear differently from you what has worked well and what has not. As some of you may remember, we have done this participant survey in three COPs by now, and your feedback was very helpful for us in the preparations for this conference. So we hope that you will again give some of your time to respond to that survey. Thank you for your attention.

I thank the representative of the NCCD Secretariat. I now open the floor in connection with the report of the Evaluation Office. Delegations wishing to take the floor are invited to press the microphone button. The floor will be given in the order of inscription with priority for group statements. If you are making a statement on behalf of a group, please kindly let the Secretary know so that you will be given priority. I kindly request speakers to keep their statements brief in order to hear from as many speakers as possible. I give the floor now to the intergovernmental organization. You have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, dear colleagues. First of all, allow me to thank the government and the people of Mongolia for hosting this important event. The theme of COP17 is restoring land, restoring hope. Needs to be translated into actions by responding to our people needs. One of the roots causes of the conflict among farmer and pastoral communities in Africa is drought. Therefore, The African heads of state and the government has both the pastoralists and the farmers in front of their agenda, which includes and not limited to Kampala Declaration for building agri-food systems resilience in Africa, which endorsed by the African heads of states and the government in 2026. the framework of pastoralism, which has been endorsed in 2011, as well as the guidelines of securing pastoralism, which has been endorsed in 2023. In addition, the African Union Commission is working for linking pastoralism with market value chain and for having a data management platform to facilitate the decision makers. Distinguished delegates, Drought in Africa causes severe food and water shortages, widespread crop failures, and massive livestock death. About 600,000 to 900,000 annual jobs lost for sub-Saharan Africa annually due to water scarcity and dry shocks, which could lead to illegal immigration to other parties all over the world. Distinguished delegates, 1.6 billion Africans are waiting for your wise decision for having an internationally legally binding instrument on drought. Distinguished delegates, let's give 1.6 billion African citizens this hope for having an international legally binding instrument on drought and thank all of you for your wise and positive response. Thank you.

I thank the representative of the African Union. I see no further request for the floor. I now give the floor to the representative of the secretariat to react on the discussion we had.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thanks to the statement and feedback concerning the evaluation, and we have taken not of them and look forward to discussing further.

I thank the representative of UNCCD secretariats. I would like to propose that further discussion on item 7 be taken up in CAU contact group one. I hear no objection, it's so decided. Distinguished delegates, I now invite the committee to begin its consideration of agenda item five entitled policy frameworks and thematic issues. I now invite the committee to turn its attention to issue of droughts. Under this issue, the committee has before it the documents ICCD COP16/20 ICCD COP16/24/Add.1, ICCD COP17/11, ICCD COP17/12. I now give the floor to the representative of the UNCCD Secretariat to introduce the document ICCD COP17/11.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Distinguished delegates, by its decision 24/COP16, the Conference of Parties decided to resume consideration of progress made under the drought agenda at its 17th session. Document ICCD/COP17/11 provides an overview of the progress achieved since COP16 in advancing global drought resilience in line with strategic objective three of the UNCCD 2018-2030 strategic framework against the backdrop of increasingly severe and frequent drought impacts worldwide.

The report highlights progress in strengthening national drought planning and.

Policy, expanding knowledge sharing and capacity building through communities of learning and practice, and fostering strategic partnerships and cooperation. It also presents developments under the real global drought resilience partnership, innovative financing mechanisms, particularly through the drought resilience investment facility and collaboration with international drought resilience alliance and related initiatives. Overall, the report underscores the importance of transitioning from the reactive crisis response to proactive systemic drought risk management by leveraging knowledge partnerships, and innovative financing to strengthen the resilience of vulnerable populations and ecosystems. I thank you for your consideration.

I thank the representative of UNCCD Secretariat. I now open the floor in connection with the documents that were just introduced on item five, issue on droughts. Delegations wishing to take the floor are invited to press the microphone button. I kindly request speakers to pick their statements brief in order to hear from as many speakers as possible. I now give the floor to representative of Togo.

Thank you, Chairperson. At the outset, On behalf of Togo, I wish to express warm thanks to Mongolia for the excellent hospitality. Chairperson, the world is now aware that drought is a threat to life, to food production and to water availability, and can have severe consequences for humanity. It has an adverse impact on ecosystems. It has social, political and economic consequences and it increases vulnerability to heat waves and other natural phenomena. Aggravating factors such as poverty increase vulnerability to drought. Drought is most often considered to be a natural event. It requires a proactive approach in order to reduce vulnerabilities and increase resilience. In Togo, we had a major drought in the north, bringing $8 billion worth of damage. At the national level, drought affected over a million persons. Throughout our national territory, there is a lack of water and a loss of productivity arising from that vulnerability. Addressing vulnerability and building resilience in different sectors against drought is a priority for Togo and other affected countries. Our government has adopted a framework law on the environment and a law on climate change in 2025 with a draft law. containing strategies and policies to encourage resilient sustainable development and our government has committed to reforestation restoral of degraded Forest land planting communal forests cantonal forests and promotion of community forest creation. Despite these efforts, Togo, like other countries, is increasingly facing droughts. Globally, drought management has not been greatly successful despite the many initiatives. This situation is due to the lack of a specific legal framework or a global approach to combat drought, with a follow-up and assessment mechanism for the implementation of plans and programmes. It is crucial to have a political commitment to address drought. I thank you, Chairperson.

I thank the representative of Togo and I give now the floor to the representative of South Africa.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Distinguished delegates, South Africa is speaking on behalf of the Africa group. We wish to take this opportunity to express our appreciation for the hospitality extended to us by the government and the people of Mongolia since our arrival in this beautiful city of Ulaanbaatar. Distinguished delegates, the WHO has established that globally droughts affect about 55 million people directly every year, broadly up to four billion people experience severe drought scarcity for at least one month per year and up to 1.84 billion people live on land directly exposed to drought. Drought has become a major global challenge that requires global coordination and solutions. The existing global drought related instruments and frameworks, including the drought toolbox, drought methodologies and policies, the integrated drought management program, the drought management guidelines and the global framework on not tasking in agriculture remain fragmented, insufficiently coordinated and largely voluntary with no binding obligations requiring states to take actions. For this reason, in line with the mandate given to us by the African Union and the African Ministers Conference on Environment and Nature, we emphasize that a dedicated global drought protocol under the convention is necessary to provide a coherent, coordinated, and legally grounded framework as an enabling tool to addressing the growing impacts of drought worldwide, more specifically in Africa. Discussions on this matter have already taken longer than anticipated. At COP16 parties made some progress by adopting a procedural decision to continue the negotiations on a drought management framework at COP17. We appreciate and thank the COP16 Presidency, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for initiating the dialogue through the TAFOLI process on drought resilience and commend the ministers, technical experts representing the various regions, the secretariat and all partners who participated in the process and the critical role they played by ensuring that parties reach an important milestone on drought discussion thus far. As we heard from Prime Minister of Mongolia this morning, The time to take bold action is now. After years of engagement on the question of drought for the African region, a successful outcome of this COP should, in line with decision 24 of COP16, be the adoption of a decision to launch a formal and inclusive intergovernmental process towards the establishment of a global drought protocol. Ladies and gentlemen, the world must shift from a piecemeal reactive approach, crisis management and work towards a proactive risk-based drought management framework. This can only be realized through a drought protocol and it is Africa's conviction that this instrument will mobilize our collective efforts using an integrated mechanism that will elevate the status of this convention and the means of implementation, especially mobilization of financial resources. It will establish predefined scientific triggers and institutional mechanisms to minimize economic, social, and environmental impact. It will establish clear thresholds and response stages, preventing arbitrary or panic-driven decision making and reducing the risk of both underreacting and overreacting to drought emergencies. Further, it will foster greater synergies by breaking down siloed responses and bringing together agencies and other relevant stakeholders under a single coordinated framework. This will enhance preparedness, strengthen resilience, and enable more effective and coordinated action at national, regional, and global levels. Ladies and gentlemen, in this triple COP year, the UNCCD cannot afford to still be considered the lesser of the three Rio Conventions, nor can it be the only convention without an enabling legally binding mechanism to enable implementation. The time is now to agree to this enabling mechanism to confront an issue that affects the livelihoods and dignity of many communities at the peril of drought. In conclusion, as Africa, we are inspired by the spirit of hope as encouraged by the COP17 presidency. We are therefore approaching this COP negotiations in good faith and in a spirit of mutual respect, building on progress achieved at COP16 and urge all parties to do so in order to work towards a meaningful and successful outcome on drought here at COP17. Thank you, Mr. President.

I thank the representative of South Africa and I give now the floor to European Union.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chair. I have the honor to speak on behalf of the EU and its 27 member states. Droughts remains one of the most pressing and far-reaching challenges addressed under this convention. Its impacts are already felt across regions. affecting ecosystems, food security, water availability, livelihoods and resilience, especially for the most vulnerable. We are facing increasingly severe and frequent droughts, and unfortunately, as we have seen recently in Europe and other parts of the world, drought creates perfect conditions for wildfires to intensify. For this reason, the European Union and its Member States continue to attach great importance to advancing the global response to droughts under UNCCD. In this regard, we regret that at COP16, parties were unable to reach a compromise on this important issue. We believe this outcome did not reflect the urgency of the challenge before us. We therefore support reconvening discussions in a constructive, inclusive, and solution-oriented manner with a view to identifying the common ground and adopting a meaningful decision at this COP. The absence of a compromise at COP16 should not obscure the importance of drought nor the progress that has been made since then. We would in particular like to highlight encouraging developments on drought finance. Since COP16, important steps have been taken to strengthen support for drought resilience and preparedness, through the ninth replenishment of the Global Environment Facility, the further development of the Drought Resilience Investment Facility and progress under the Systematic Observations Financing Facility. We also commend the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership for advancing its important work. We welcome equally the TAFIR process for drought resilience initiated by Saudi Arabia at COP16, and supported by the UNCCD Secretariat as a useful platform for open exchange. These are tangible and welcome advances which demonstrate that action is possible and is already underway. We call on all parties to continue engaging in a spirit of cooperation and flexibility to finalize the task at hand in the negotiations track and find solutions that are acceptable to all. We remain committed to working with all partners to achieve an effective and balanced outcome on drought. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

I thank the representative of the European Union and I give now the floor to the representative of Suriname.

Thank you, Chair. Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, Suriname supports a stronger shift from reactive drought response towards proactive, integrated and risk-informed drought resilience. As a humid tropical country, drought has historically not been a central feature of Suriname's environmental planning. However, increasing climate variability, changing rainfall patterns and hydrological conditions demonstrate that drought and water stress can affect countries across different climatic and ecological settings. For Suriname, priorities should therefore be given to strengthening hydrological and climate monitoring, early warning systems, integrated land and water management, ecosystem based approaches and national technical capacity. At the same time, drought policies and instruments under the convention should remain flexible and country driven, reflecting different national circumstances rather than applying a one-size-fits-all approach. Finally, Ambition on drought resilience must be supported by accessible and predictable finance, technology transfer, data and sustained capacity building, particularly for developing countries and small island developing states. Suriname stands ready to support a practical and inclusive outcome on drought at COP17. Thank you, Chair.

I thank the representative of Suriname and now I give the floor to Republic of Korea. Republic of Korea, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. First of all, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the warm hospitality of the Mongolian government and Mongolian people. And we also would like to express our thanks to the Secretariat and GM for their continued work for the parties. Drought is having a severe impact, causing damage to crops and pastures. increasing the risk of mega fires and escalating their scale. The Republic of Korea is no less immune to the impacts of drought. Severe droughts in the southern region of Korea and recent large-scale wildfires in the southeastern region have caused tragic loss of life and property damage. Our government views drought not merely as a temporary disaster, but as a systemic risk with impacts on food security, water security, ecosystems, and rural livelihoods and economies. We sincerely hope that relevant information such as effective and practical policies, research and technologies regarding drought issues will be shared at the UNCC level and that the capacities of developing countries to respond to drought and forest fires will be strengthened so that all parties can effectively cope with drought. In this regard, we hope that the parties will pool their wisdom at this Conference of the Parties and adopt by consensus a decision which contains practical measures and actions on the ground regarding drought issues under the UNCCD. We also expect the insights of technical experts alongside policymakers will be actively reflected. To effectively address drought, Korea has domestically strengthened proactive drought responses, including measures against forest fires and expanded international and regional cooperation. In particular, we are striving to strengthen capacity and develop policy, develop policy making tools. For instance, we are supporting the FAO Global Fire Hub and pursuing an Asia, Asia Forest Fire Capacity Building Program in cooperation with France and the Asia Asian Forest Cooperation Organization known as AFoCo. Furthermore, during this COP, we will launch a program called WISE, which links drought, water resources, food and ecosystems. It's a forecasting system that will inform policymakers to make wise decisions regarding drought. The Republic of Korea will the Republic of Korea will continue to reinforce its domestic and international efforts to effectively address drought and forest fire challenges. Thank you.

I thank the representative of the Republic of Korea and I give now the floor to Oman.

Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, Your Excellencies, dear participants, the Sultanate of Oman reiterates its support to international efforts aimed at promoting capacity to address droughts and its impacts. and we reiterate the importance of the shifting from crisis response to proactive response and promoting resilience and adaptation. In this respect, Oman takes pride in being among the first countries in the Arab region that have initiated a national plan to manage droughts. This demonstrates our commitment to preparedness, national preparedness and addressing the impact of droughts. regarding national resources and communities as well as economies. Oman believes that all the options to manage droughts are appropriate and can be applied or implemented, but we need to take into account the national contexts of each state promoting best practices amongst states. The Sultanate of Oman also reiterates the importance of supporting states, especially those most affected by droughts, to develop their national plans and promote their early warning systems, monitoring systems, providing financing and technical support to implement such plans. The Sultanate of Oman reiterates the importance of international and regional cooperation, exchange of knowledge and expertise in order to promote the ability to address droughts and achieve the sustainable management of natural resources and lands. We are ready to constructively participate in international efforts and exchange our expertise in terms of drought management to serve common efforts to build better communities that have better resilience to climate change and droughts. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Oman and they give now the floor to Brazil.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, for giving us the floor. Drought is no longer an exceptional event. For many countries, including for Brazil, it is becoming a structural development challenge. Brazil's example illustrates the scale of this challenge. Between 1990 and 2019, approximately 27% of the Brazilian territory experienced at least 36 months of severe and prolonged drought. The impacts extend far beyond the access to water. affecting agricultural production, food security, livelihoods and ecosystems, with disproportionate consequences for populations in situation of vulnerability. Our recently updated Brazilian action plan to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought, recognizes that addressing drought requires moving from crisis response towards risk management prevention and long-term resilience in this regard we would like to Echo suriname's intervention Brazil has accumulated important experience in living with drought combining monitoring and early warning systems with locally adapted solutions and social technologies. These approaches aim to integrate local knowledge and the particular needs of family farmers, indigenous peoples and local communities who are among those most affected by drought. We would also like to echo the intervention made by South Africa on behalf of the African group. In our view, COP17 represents an important opportunity to strengthen our collective response to drought and ensure that this critical pillar of the convention receives the attention it requires. We should leave Ulaanbaatar with a strong commitment capable of supporting preparedness, building resilience and providing developing countries with the means of implementation to act over the long term. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the representative of Brazil. I just want to share with you that I have a long list of speakers in front of me and given the limited time available to us, I might kindly remind delegation to be brief so that we can hear all remaining speakers. So now I give the floor to Syrian Arab Republic.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, Syria would like to thank the Secretariat for the report under discussion on promoting resilience in the face of droughts that highlights the increasing risk of droughts and its interlinked impact on food security, ecosystems and livelihoods, as well as national economies. The Syrian Arab Republic reiterates that the content of the report demonstrates the challenge faced by arid and the semi-arid or semi-dry regions, including Syria. In our country, we have seen recurrent droughts that have affected our water resources, agricultural production, food security and livelihoods, notably the 2025 drought that was unprecedented for decades. And in response, Syria has prepared. matrix as a framework to address future challenges and promote the capacity to address droughts through three interlinked themes preparedness, response and recovery. And in translation of this matrix into a national course of action, we joined the global program for droughts through activities to implement the COP15 decisions in cooperation with FAO. in order to implement the national strategy on droughts through a national plan and a portfolio, investment portfolio that updates or identify priority interventions and provide the foundation for mobilizing necessary resources for implementation. We reiterate the need for participation in global initiatives that promote drought resilience, including Riyadh Global Partnership for Resilience in the Face of Drought and the Global Alliance Against Droughts to promote regional international cooperation, exchange of expertise, best practices in the area of drought monitoring, adaptation, and alleviation of impacts. The main challenge in the future would be to shift from drought management to proactive response through prediction, early warning, assessing risks and early action and linking such with practical measures at the national level. In this respect, Syria reiterates the need to continue to support countries of limited resources to build capacity, transfer knowledge and expertise and promote cooperation so that these countries can implement and prepare national, effective national plans to address droughts. We believe in the importance of promoting the role of local communities, availing ourselves of traditional knowledge to have the policies more responsive to the needs of local communities. This will have a positive bearing on the effective implementation of plans. The Syrian Arab Republic is ready to continue to work constructively with all partners and parties to promote cooperation, exchange of knowledge, expertise, and promote or shore up efforts to build more resilient communities. in the face of drought. Thank you.

Thank you, representative of Syrian Arab Republic. And now I give the floor to Morocco. Morocco, you have the floor. It doesn't work. I give now the floor to Lebanon.

Thank you, Mr. President. At the outset, I would like to thank Mongolia for hospitality and for organizing this conference. Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, land degradation and droughts that is affecting all states and countries affects food security and our livelihoods in general. For example, when we talk about droughts, the northern areas of the UK have announced the delay of the Premier League because of drought. Lebanon, like other neighboring countries, is suffering from droughts because of climate change and other elements. This includes the use of pesticides in the war waged against forests in my country. Lebanon has prepared its national plan to combat droughts, but the implementation of this plan requires resources Therefore, Mr. President, we need to attach the issue of droughts due importance and to come up with clear decisions, and everyone should shoulder the responsibility towards future generations. The Earth that we are using now is borrowed from those future generations, and we need to honor this trust, we need also to provide financial resources to combat droughts. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Lebanon and I give the floor now to Morocco. Mr. President.

Distinguished delegates, I take the floor on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco and align with the statement made by South Africa on behalf of the African group. Morocco entirely shares the observation by the African group to the effect that desertification, land degradation and drought are major threats to food and water security, subsistence, development, and stability. For Africa, the challenge is not just the environmental development. There are development issues, resilience and security matters at stake. Morocco supports the African group's call for an international, predictable, coordinated response and for a strengthening of the international framework to combat drought and ensured scientific work within the convention. Thus, the adoption of a protocol on drought is the appropriate solution. Chairperson, given episodes of drought are increasingly frequent and severe, Morocco has sought to build resilience as a national priority under the guidance of our king we are playing a comprehensive approach based on sustainable development of water dams desalination interconnection of basins modernization of irrigation and the forests strategy to 2030. Morocco also aligns with the African group in its call to ensure equitable, predictable access to financing technologies and capacity building. Appropriate means for implementation are crucial to strengthen resilience, restore lands and ensure sustainable development. We reaffirm that water security is indissociable from the well-being of our populations and from sustainable development. Greater cooperation and equitable sustainable management are crucial. Chairperson, delegates, Morocco remains fully committed to addressing the priorities linked to drought, ensuring that they bring adequate resources and ambitious action. Thank you.

I thank the delegate of Morocco and I give now the floor to the United Kingdom.

Very much. Distinguished guests, The UK is highly concerned by the rising frequency and severity of droughts and the impacts of these around the world on livelihoods, food systems, water supplies and economic growth. We support global ambition on addressing drought and through the UK's humanitarian development and climate finance, we remain committed to supporting drought resilience, particularly in the most vulnerable countries. We welcome that the Global Environment Fund's ninth replenishment will expand its focus on drought, including through an integrated programme on drylands and drought management, which will help countries to implement their drought plans and other drought-related policies. We also welcome this item under UNCCD and encourage constructive engagement on this between parties. We welcome all the progress from the UNCCD Secretariat and parties. However, the UK will not support a new legal treaty or new financial commitments, but we are committed to working together with other parties to consider alternative options which can raise greater ambition and commitment to addressing drought. Thank you very much.

I thank the representative of the United Kingdom and I give now the floor to Zambia.

Thank you so much, Chair. Allow me to join others in extending our warm congratulations on your appointment. Please be assured of the Republic of Zambia's full support as we engage in this important session. Mr. Chair, we further want to appreciate our gratitude to the government of Republic of Mongolia for the generous hospitality extended to us in this beautiful city. Further, Chair, allow me to align ourselves fully with the statement that was delivered by South Africa on behalf of the African groups, realizing the increasing severity of drought condition affecting our nation. Chair, for Zambia, this situation is further compounded by the ongoing El Nino phenomenon, which is projected to bring below average rainfall and above average temperatures during the forthcoming season. It is therefore very imperative for us to reaffirm the call for a drought protocol to address these challenges, recognizing that drought resilience is central to the achievement of the convention's objective and to safeguarding the wellbeing of our people. Chair, we therefore look forward to engaging constructively and to advancing negotiations in the spirit of shared responsibility. I thank you, Chair.

I thank the representative of Zambia, and now I give the floor to Saudi Arabia.

Thank you very much.

On behalf of God, the compassionate, merciful.

And assuming the presidency of this conference, and to also congratulate you chair um you are a chair of um long history of diplomacy and I'm sure the challenges ahead of you will be um significant but with the the trusted experience from uh the past we um we are very assured that you will uh deliver with excellence and you have our utmost support uh moving forward and as outgoing presidency we know something of what this task requires, and we place our experience at your disposal without reservation. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attaches particular importance to achieving a meaningful and agreed outcome on drought at COP17. Drought is no longer an episodic challenge, it's an increasing frequency, severity and duration are placing growing pressure on water scarcity, food systems, ecosystems, livelihoods and sustainable development, particularly in arid and drought prone countries. COP17 therefore represents an important opportunity for parties to translate the Convention mandate into stronger and more coordinated action on drought. At COP16 in Riyadh, The Kingdom placed drought at the center of the international agenda and invested significant political, technical and diplomatic efforts to advance convergence among parties. While parties were not able to reach consensus on a final drought decision, the negotiation generated substantive progress, clarified areas of convergence and divergence, and established a strong foundation upon which COP17 can build. That work should not be lost or reopened from the beginning. COP17 should recognize the progress achieved in Riyadh and use it as the basis for concluding an outcome that commands consensus among parties. The Kingdom has also sought to sustain political momentum beyond COP16 through the Tafaoul process, providing a platform for continued dialogue, confidence building and consideration of possible pathway forward. This reflects the Kingdom commitment not only as COP16 presidency, but also as ensuring continuity between COP16 and COP17 and supporting a party-driven solution capable of responding to different national circumstances, priorities and capacities of parties. An outcome at COP17, Chair, would represent more than the conclusion of an outstanding negotiation. It would demonstrate that the international community can build on the progress made in Riyadh, respond collectively to one of the most significant challenges within the mandate of this convention and move from discussion towards strengthened implementation. The Kingdom stands ready to continue working constructively with the COP17 presidency, parties and secretariat to build on the COP16 draft outcome and the Tafaoul process, bridge remaining differences and secure an ambitious, balance and consensus based outcome on a drought at caps 17. Thank you very much.

I thank the representative of Saudi Arabia and they give the floor now to Uruguay.

Thank you, Chairperson. Uruguay refers that drought is one of the main challenges to sustainable development, food and water security. protective ecosystems and well-being of our populations in the context of increasing variability and climate change we recognize the need to strengthen coordinated preventive action based on comprehensive water land and territory management droughts affect communities production ecosystems water and sustainability of life and thus we must focus on water, food and land, strength and resilience of communities and Uruguay notes the need to strengthen coastal communities, building links between rural communities and ensuring transboundary links. We must make progress in responses and on preventive development, preventive responses noting the need for monitoring and assessment of vulnerabilities and early warning systems as well as anticipatory action systems to prevent damage. Resilience is built on the ground through resilient infrastructure, sustainable water and land management, soil preservation, protection of ecosystems and nature-based solutions. Uruguay calls for decisive commitment to implementation with necessary resources to transform this into real action on the ground, mobilizing sufficient predictable financing and ensuring the participation of communities with innovation, technical cooperation and strengthening of capacities in line with the convention we note the that action on drought must involve National and international and transboundary investment to strengthen National and local systems thank you.

I thank the representative of Uruguay and now I give the floor to eritrea Eritrea, please, you have the floor. So I give now the floor to China.

Thank you, Chair.

Right now, due to the impact of extreme weather conditions, global drought situation is worsening, which seriously threatens the life and production of countries concerned. China and many developing countries are seriously affected by drought. We support exploring new measures under the framework of the Convention to address drought, with particular attention to Africa and many developing countries, and actively promote consultation on drought-related instruments. Here, China appreciates the process initiated by Saudi Arabia as presidency of COP16, which played an active role for consensus forging. Meanwhile, we're also clearly aware that there are still many differences between parties. However, to keep the negotiation going is better than stalling. and achieving early results is better than nothing. COP16 achieved a procedural resolution, which is a good basis, and China is ready to continue its active and constructive role and join all parties in their efforts for achieving progress at this COP on this issue. Thank you.

I thank the representative of China and I give the floor now to Australia.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the country of Mongolia for hosting COP17. Australia welcomes the UNCCD's continued focus on shifting to proactive systemic drought risk management. Australia has been on this journey for decades and we are continually adapting our approach to reduce the impact drought have on economies, communities and environments. We have seen the benefits of this approach with our farmers and regional communities actively preparing for droughts and drawing on these preparedness activities to mitigate some of the impact. However, with a strong focus on preparing, droughts can be financially, mentally, socially and environmentally overwhelming. Australia also prioritises having support in place that helps people, businesses and communities manage through drought, while still maintaining resilience at its core. We have learned that support during drought must not result in farmers delaying decisions or choosing riskier options because they know government will compensate them for being drought impacted. Australia acknowledges the significant amount of work that has been underway internationally to build drought resilience, such as the UNCCD's Global Drought Initiative, the International Drought Resilience Alliance, the Drought Resilience Investment Facility, and the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership. We are interested in seeing how existing platforms and the UNCCD's drought initiative can be best used to further build drought resilience rather than adding new initiatives and risk diluting efforts and funding. It is essential that action is tailored to the specific context of each country. We all have different landscapes, challenges and systems of government, and a one-size-fits-all approach is inappropriate. At COP17, we would like to see an outcome on drought that focuses and is workable for all parties and helps countries prepare for drought and build resilience effectively. Australia does not support a legally binding framework or protocol for drought. We are concerned about the impasse this decision is having on achieving progress and focus on building drought resilience. Our focus is on solutions that deliver real benefits for drought-affected farmers, communities and landscapes. We're open to hearing ideas from all parties and we welcome the opportunity to both share information on our approach and learn from approaches taken in other countries and contribute to coordinated global action to build social, environmental and economic resilience to drought and climate change. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Australia and I give now the floor to Philippine.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. At the outset, the Philippines wishes to express its sincere appreciation to the government and people of Mongolia for the warm welcome and generous hospitality extended to all delegations here in Ulaanbaatar for COP17. The Philippines supports the recommendations presented in the transition from reactive drought response to proactive and integrated drought risk management. For the Philippines, drought has direct implications for agricultural production, water availability, food security, and the livelihoods of farming communities. we are increasingly experiencing the impacts of prolonged dry conditions and water stress, particularly in agricultural areas, reinforcing the need to strengthen our preparedness and long-term resilience. Our experience underscores the importance of antipository action, including effective early warning systems, efficient water management, soil moisture conservation, appropriate cropping strategies and other science-based interventions. In this context, we emphasize that the implementation of national drought plans should be supported by adequate and accessible financing, technology, capacity building and technical assistance, particularly for developing country parties. We further emphasize giving due attention to agricultural drought resilience and integrated sustainable land and water management, recognizing their direct contribution to food security and resilient rural livelihoods. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the representative of Philippines. And now I give the floor to Saint Kitts and Nevis.

Thank you very much, Chair. Saint Kitts and Nevis would like to express his gratitude to the Government and people of Mongolia together with the Secretariat for graciously hosting this prestigious event. Chair, Small Island Development States are increasingly experiencing prolonged dry periods and rainfall variability that threaten water availability, agricultural production, food security, biodiversity, livelihoods, and economic stability. The effects of drought are particularly acute in small island developing states because of the small land areas with limited freshwater resources, dependency on rainfed agriculture, high exposure to climate variability, fragile ecosystems, and constrained technical and financial capacities. In many islands, droughts also interact with land degradation, soil moisture loss, saline intrusion, wildfires, declining crop yields, and competing demands for limited water resources. Across the Caribbean, Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea regions, small island developing states are confronting similar challenges while developing innovative approaches to drought monitoring, early warning, preparedness, water governance, sustainable land management, financing and community resilience. We emphasize the need for continuous financial, scientific and technological support to offset the crippling impact of drought. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis and now I give the floor to a specialized agency, the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations. I will come back to specialized agency and I give now the floor to Senegal.

Thank you, Chairperson. We thank the Government of Mongolia for its hospitalities. President Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Senegal aligns with the statement by the African group on drought. As you know, Senegal is also co-chair of the initiative for drought resilience with Spain. We stand in solidarity with the African position. Drought is no longer cyclic. It has become an ongoing challenge. It threatens our economies, food security in all continents. It is not just Africa that is affected. We continue to respond to threat by dispersed actions. We must have a global policy for resilience. We must anticipate, prepare and respond. Senegal calls for effective global action. We reiterate our solidarity with other parties for sustained discussion on drought. There needs to be an agreement which will allow all parties to address this problem, which is such a challenge to all communities. There need to be effective early warning systems and protection of pastoral and agricultural land that supports thousands of lives and if not protected can lead to migration and loss of security. Thank.

You. And now I give the floor to Bhutan. Bhutan, you have the floor.

Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, allow me to express our sincere appreciation to the government and people of Mongolia for warm hospitality and excellent arrangement for COP17. We also thank the UNCCD Secretariat for the report and for advancing our collective work on drought resilience. Bhutan is not spared from the impacts of drought. However, drought in mountain ecosystems can manifest differently from drought in many other landscapes. In Bhutan, we are witnessing rapid retreat of glaciers, drying water sources, changing precipitation patterns, and increasing water stress with serious implications for farmers and rural communities. Recognizing this emerging risk, Bhutan is pursuing a proactive and preventive approach to drought resilience. We are investing in our water flagship programs, climate smart irrigation schemes, climate smart agriculture, spring sheet management, and other measures to strengthen water security and the resilience of our landscapes and livelihoods. However, as a small developing mountainous country, Bhutan faces significant limitations in technical capacity, technology, and financial resources to adequately address this growing risk. We therefore strongly support a shift from reactive to a doubt response to proactive drought risk management, preparedness and resilience. For Bhutan, this means strengthening science and early warning systems, building national capacity, translating early warning into early action, and investing in healthy land, water systems, and resilient livelihoods before drought becomes a crisis. We call for stronger international and regional cooperation, capacity building, technology transfer, and predictable and accessible finance to support developing countries in undertaking these proactive measures. Bhutan stands ready to contribute constructively to this collective endeavor. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the representative of Bhutan, and now I give the floor to Egypt.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

The delegation of Egypt aligns.

Itself with the statement delivered on the matter by the delegation of South Africa on behalf of the African group.

Mr. Chair, drought is an increasingly critical challenge for Egypt, given the country's.

Arid climate, scarce water resources, and growing pressure arising from climate change, land degradation, among other factors.

Egypt, as a country facing severe water scarcity and land degradation pressures, has a strong interest in ensuring that the Convention's drought-related mandate is translated into operationalized, practical and coordinated action.

Mr. Chair, Egypt.

Supports the adoption of a legal protocol on drought as a mean of operationalizing and strengthening an essential pillar of UNCCDs existing mandate. Such protocol could establish a clear and comprehensive path for drought risk reduction, preparedness, response.

And recovery while promoting international cooperation and support for affected developing countries.

It could also provide greater coherence, predictability and accountability in mobilizing financial resources, technology and capacity to address drought. I thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the representative of Egypt and now I give the floor to Zimbabwe.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Zimbabwe aligns with the African group position and strongly supports the development of a comprehensive drought framework and protocol to strengthen preparedness, early warning systems, and financing mechanisms across the continent. Africa's vulnerability to recurring droughts, exacerbated by climate change and land degradation, demands binding institutional arrangements that enable coordinated and decisive drought management at continental, regional, and national levels. Zimbabwe urges COP17 to advance negotiation towards a binding drought protocol that positions UNCCD as the lead multilateral instrument for drought resilience in Africa. Thank you.

I thank the representative of Zimbabwe. So we have heard the last statement by a member state. Before moving to observers, I encourage delegation to continue discussion within the contacts group. Now I give the floor to the intergovernmental organization.

Thank you, Chair. IUCN extends its gratitude to the people and government of Mongolia for their hospitality and to the UNCCD Secretariat for the smooth organization of this COP. IUCN would also like to thank the COP16 Presidency of Saudi Arabia for their leadership and stewardship. IUCN welcomes the report before us and the progress it records. More than 70 countries now have national drought plans, and the communities of learning and practice have grown into something genuinely useful to the people doing this work. We also note the report's finding that global drought financing still flows overwhelmingly towards emergency response rather than preparedness, which tells us that we have built an architecture that pays for the consequences of drought while underfunding the measures that would reduce them. We would add one thing to that diagnosis. The most dependable drought infrastructure is often the underlying ecosystem. These are watersheds that hold water, soils that retain it, and rangelands that recover after a dry year rather than transitioning into permanent degradation. IUCN therefore believes that a future framework on drought should integrate biodiversity, water, soil, and climate metrics, and embed nature-based solutions in drought planning and response. As the new financing instruments move from design into a pipeline, IUCN encourages parties to insist on quality from the outset. High integrity nature-based solutions require agreed criteria to distinguish them from what merely resembles them. And IUCN offers its global standard to parties and to the global mechanism for that purpose. Two years ago in Riyadh, parties came close to an agreement on proactive drought management. and we encourage you to finish it here. I thank you.

I thank the representative of IUCN and now I give the floor to specialized agencies and I will start by Food and Agriculture Organization of United Nations. FAO, you have the floor. Yes, go ahead now. Yes, it's working. Okay.

Sorry, Chair.

And thank you. First of all, I would like to warmly thank the government of Mongolia and UNCCD for organizing the COP17. Chair, droughts are becoming more frequent, intense and widespread. And among the agricultural sectors, the economic.

Sector, agriculture is the sector that hit the most, bearing over 80% of all economic losses caused by drought.

Therefore, FAO commends UNCCD for its continuous efforts to promote proactive drought management, also through the development of effective instruments.

To be negotiated at this COP.

FAO provided a technical support to over 35 countries in developing through their national drought management plans. We also would like to thank UNCCD for being an active member.

In the steering committee of the global framework of water scarcity on agriculture, WASAG.

And we look forward to continuing this cooperation to support countries in tackling this urgent challenge. We invite Parties and partners to draw on NFAO tools such as Drought Finance and Action Tracking, National Drought Plan Monitoring and Crop Impact Assessment as we advance the shift from reactive response to anticipatory and risk-based drought action. And share the gap remains between what is pledged globally and what is delivered locally, and between the knowledge held at the global level and the communities and users who must act on it. In closing, this gap is a defining challenge of the decade ahead. We remain committed to continue working together with parties, UNCCD Secretariat, Global Mechanism, the Global Environmental Facility and all partners to step up action on drought management for resilient lands and livelihoods. Thank you, Chair.

I thank the representative of FAO. And now I give the floor to the second specialized agency, which is the World Meteorological Organization.

Thank you very much. Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the government of Mongolia as well for hosting this COP17. The World Meteorological Organization and the Global Water Partnership Organization have been supporting action on drought through our jointly managed Integrated Drought Management Program since its inception over 15 years ago and through its network of over 45 partners. The increasing occurrence and severity of drought is coming against the backdrop of the last 11 years being the warmest since records began and an increasingly variable hydrological cycle, all with impacts on people, ecosystems and land. In response to this increasing drought risk, we have scaled up our support to drought action, working along with the global mechanism of the UNCCD, the Adaptation Fund, and other partners, many of which are in this room. We are currently implementing or developing 10 regional projects and proposals covering 42 UNCCD parties with funding requests exceeding $240 million. And we are working more broadly with the UNCCD and other partners on various activities related to drought monitoring, drought early warning, and drought resilience. This includes, for example, supporting knowledge management and capacity development through the communities of learning and practice, and also through new products that we are developing, like the Global Drought Mosaic. At this point, I would like to take a moment to emphasize the role of the national meteorological and hydrological services across the world. Their observations, monitoring and forecasts provide the scientific foundation for drought early warning and early action. We welcome keeping drought high on the agenda, including the issue of drought finance, and we stand ready to expand our current support through the various mechanisms, including the Drought Resilience Investment Facility, the REA Global Drought Resilience Partnership, Global Environmental Facility, and other partners and funding instruments. We wish COP17 a success and look forward to engaging with many of you on drought action during this COP and beyond. Thank you.

I thank the representative of World Meteorological Organization and I give the floor now to Cook Islands.

Thank you, Chair, and I apologize for coming in late. The Cook Islands congratulate you on your appointment as the Conference of the Whole Chair, and we look forward to working with you. We also welcome the report before us. The Cook Islands recognizes drought as a serious and growing challenge and supports a stronger global response under the convention. and align with the interventions and sentiments with others like Australia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Bhutan. For small island developing states like ours, drought is closely linked to water security. Our islands are small and remote. Freshwater resources are limited, and many of our sister island communities depend heavily on rainfall. Prolonged dry periods can therefore have immediate impacts on water supply, food security, livelihoods, and the resilience of our communities. As parties consider the appropriate global approach to drought, the Cook Islands considers that the effectiveness of any outcome should be measured by what it enables countries to do on the ground. For small island developing states, our capacity to take on new international requirements is limited by our human, technical, and financial resources. A new legally binding protocol could create additional obligations without necessarily providing the capacity and resources required to implement them. The Cook Islands supports the transition from drought response to drought resilience. We support a strengthened international approach to drought that is flexible, country driven and responsive to different national circumstances. For SIDS, drought is often experienced through water insecurity, climate variability and ecosystem impacts rather than traditional dry land conditions. Any future framework should therefore avoid a one-size-fits-all approach and instead provide countries with practical support, financing and flexibility to build resilience in ways that reflect national realities. Chair, the Cook Islands is ready to work constructively with parties towards an ambitious outcome on drought at COP17. Our priority is not the legal form of the outcome, but whether it strengthens our ability to prepare for drought, protect our limited freshwater resources, and build resilience of our islands and communities. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you, the representative of Cook Islands. Now I give the floor to a representative of civil society.

Thank you, Chair. Distinguished delegates on behalf of civil society and indigenous people, we welcome the progress reflected in the draft position towards strengthening drought resilience and acknowledge the important partnership already in place. We also welcome efforts to strengthen investment, knowledge sharing and integration of drought resilience into national planning. Considering the urgent global crisis of drought, which is currently affecting more than 1.84 billion people and degrading up to 40% of the world land, we call the party to make a decisive shift from reactive drought management toward a systematic and a special approach to drought resilience, including the establishment of effective instrument on the drought management. This requires inclusive process that meaningfully involves civil society, indigenous people, local communities, women, youth, pastoralists, farmers, and other affected groups. Drought policies must be gender responsive and integrate traditional, local, and indigenous knowledge into risk assessment, planning, and implementation, as well as monitoring. We encourage parties to strengthen the integration of drought adaptation and resilience into national and local planning instruments. Drought resilience requires healthy landscape and food system. We call for greater support for agricultural diversity, agroecology, sustainable land management, and natural water cycles. Farmers and land stewards using sustainable practices that deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits must be supported and incentivized. We call on parties and relevant financial institution to recognize, support, and scale evidence-based civil society and local solution already reducing drought vulnerability on the ground, including community-led initiatives. We call on financial institutions, environmental funds, donor, the private sector, and other relevant entities to increase finance, capacity building, and technical cooperation for Africa countries while supporting other affected developing countries to strengthen drought preparedness and resilience. Finally, we urge parties to invest in science research while incorporating the Guinea's knowledge in water management to address the growth the growing drought vulnerability linked to climate variability and human activities, especially in the face of the rapid increase of water demand from the data centers. Thank you, Chair.

I thank the representative of civil society. This was the last speaker in my list. I see no further requests for the floor. So now I give the floor to the representative of UNCCD Secretariat to react on the discussion we've had.

Mr. Chair, distinguished delegates, thank you for the statements made and for the questions and requests for clarifications raised by parties and other stakeholders under this agenda item. We have taken note of the views expressed and the issues highlighted. We will consider these matters further in the contact group where we will have the opportunity to engage with the questions raised and provide any necessary clarification. We appreciate the constructive contributions of parties and look forward to continuing the discussion in the contact group.

I thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chair.

I thank the representative of UNCCD secretariats So I would like to propose that further discussion on this item be taken in cow contact group two on other matters. I hear no objection. It's so decided. Distinguished delegates, this brings us to the end of our deliberation for today. And I would like to thank you very much for your commitment and for this performance which enabled us to cover all items within the allocated time and I encourage you to maintain this same dynamic to enable us tackle all remaining item in due time. So before adjourning I would like also to make some announcements. The first meeting of the contact group one on program and budgets is scheduled to take place 15 minutes after adjournment of this minutes in room meet 15. The first meeting of contact group two on other matters is also scheduled to take place 15 minutes after adjournment of this meeting in the room meets 11. The next meeting of the committee of the hall is scheduled for Wednesday, 19 August 2026 at 3:00 PM. on the main committee room. So not here in the other room. Please consult the daily journal and the NCCD conference application on your smartphone for further details. The meeting is adjourned.