Ministerial dialogue on Drought Resilience - UNCCD COP17

Good afternoon everyone. I call to order the seventeenth meeting, the seventh meeting of the Conference of Parties to hear the remaining speakers in the second ministerial dialogue on drought resilience. I would like to recall that interventions are limited to three minutes to maximize participation and interaction. Time limits will be mechanically enforced. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of India.

Thank you, Chair, Excellencies, and distinguished delegates. At this august gathering, is aware drought is no longer an occasional event, but a defining development challenge, touching water security, food systems, biodiversity, and economic stability. India integrates early warnings, mitigation, relief, and community resilience through coordinated multi-institutional approach, rainfall tracking, and satellite-based drought assessments. Kick start inter-ministerial and state level preparedness so that a dry spell does not become a crisis. This risk informed approach rests on the premise that land sustains water. Thus, restore the forest before the flow, guides catchment and river escape forestry, cutting erosion, improving water retention and recharging groundwater even beyond the monsoons. Additionally, rejuvenation and revival of traditional water bodies strengthen recharge and rural drought resilience. In the hills, community-led restoration of spring and recharge zones secure drinking water and irrigation. In the plains, a pan-India watershed program treats degraded rain-fed land in ridge-to-valley approach driven by community institutions and rural employment convergence. At the household level, drinking water programs ensure reliable supply even under stress with assured service levels, local quality testing and prioritization of vulnerable areas. India's core belief is that drought must be managed as a predictable, preventable risk and not a recurring disaster demanding emergency response. Prevention rests on watershed development, water harvesting, afforestation, recharge and climate resilient crops, disaster related funds, employment guarantees, fodder support and emergency water supply provide relief when required. A crop insurance scheme that financially protects farmers against drought and other non preventable loss across the crop cycle combining subsidized premises with technology driven assessment ensure faster transparent claim statement building drought resilience is not optional for the world's most vulnerable it is survival India stand ready to share its knowledge and capacities including on early warning for a drought resilient future for all thank you very much.

Thank you, India, for your statement. I now give the floor to Cote d'Ivoire, to be followed by Botswana. Cote d'Ivoire, you have the floor.

Esteemed technical and financial partners, ladies and gentlemen, all protocol observed, it's a great honor to address this high-level ministerial dialogue on behalf of the Republic of Cote d'Ivoire. And we appreciate, you know, the hospitality and the symbolism in having this meeting here in Ulan Bator. Drought is no longer a distant clinical emergency.

Drought is a structural risk intensified by climate change and sustainable land use and the degradation of ecosystems.

It has repercussions, it leads to harvest loss, has decimated water points depleted, families displaced and development gains reversed. The situation in Cote d'Ivoire is not different. That's why, and I will continue my permission in French, La Cote d'Ivoire.

Cote d'Ivoire intends to structure its activities around four key priorities. Firstly, is to anticipate in order to ensure better protection, in order to make sure that the climate changes are not a humanitarian crisis. Secondly, to have sustainable water security. All investment in water should be an investment in peace, food security, and human dignity, and indeed in life. Thirdly, To restore ecosystems, we all know that the living soil needs to be protected, forests as well. They keep humidity, they reduce erosion, they support biodiversity and strengthen the ability of communities to face up to a lack of precipitation. Fourthly, to place our populations at the heart of resilience. Resilience will only be sustainable if, in the end, it reduces vulnerabilities, it creates decent employment, and it offers communities genuine economic choices and prospects. We need to promote South-South cooperation. We saw this through the examples provided this morning by Egypt and Saudi Arabia, for example. From the steppe of Mongolia to the savannah north of the Cote d'Ivoire, we know that droughts are a daily part of our life. We need to make sure that we restore land, to restore food security, preserving waters, preventing conflicts, strengthening resilience, protecting the dignity of millions of men and women, and guaranteeing our young people have a future. Cote d'Ivoire is working along these lines, and we affirm our availability to work with all parties together, African institutions, technical and financial partners, private sector and civil society and local communities. We need to move towards anticipating risk to make sure that we can transform our land with financial solidarity. Together we can do this. Thank you.

I thank the Cote d'Ivoire. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Botswana, to be followed by the State of Palestine. Botswana, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Chairman, Excellencies, distinguished delegates. On this drought resilience day, Botswana stands with all African nations in recognizing that drought does not respect borders. It is a shared challenge and the African group has taken a historic decision to elevate drought resistance as a continental priority. Our hope is that this COP will deliver a concrete decision on drought, advancing resilience and as a global priority. Botswana's journey towards land degradation neutrality demonstrates the power of combining indigenous knowledge with scientific expertise. Through our national drought plan financed by UNCCD and co-financed with national resources, we have shifted from reactive disaster relief to proactive resilience building. Early warning science, climate smart agriculture, and ecosystem-based fire management are now embedded in our policy. Already, over 600,000 hectares of degraded land have been restored with a target of 25 million hectares by 2030. We have modernized biodiversity financing, increased conservation revenues from $1.8 million to $7.8 million annually, while redirecting subsidies towards climate smart farming and precision irrigation. Resilience goes beyond land restored or revenues raised. Rangeland degradation drives poverty and breaking this cycle requires sustainable management, inclusive governance, secure land tenure, and the leadership of women pastoralists. The anticipated El Nino threatens severe droughts, heat waves, and bushfires across Southern Africa. Nations must stay prepared by integrating focus into drought planning, fire danger ratings, and food security monitoring. In this spirit, Botswana calls upon all nations to support the collective decision on drought resilience. The Riyadh Declaration has already underscored the urgency of this matter, and we insist that developed countries reconsider their position on drought. This is not merely about financial support. It is about implementing drought plans in ways that demonstrate the international impact of droughts and the shared responsibility to act. By recognizing drought as a global challenge, strengthening land tenure and empowering women and scaling restoration, we can build a resilient Africa and a resilient world where communities thrive even in the face of climate shocks. I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Botswana. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the State of Palestine. You have the floor.

Chair, Your.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, we are meeting here today to address one of the most serious challenges confronting humankind today. And of course, I'm talking about drought. The effects of thereof are multiple and multiplying across the countries of the world. And that is entirely true in the state of Palestine, where the effects and impact of drought are being seen in agriculture, in herds, and in our water resources and in the capacity of pastoral farmers, herdsmen and farmers to withstand. It's also outstripping the capacity of the population at large to withstand. Chair, we are confronted with an increasingly complex situation in the state of Palestine. The Israeli occupation has not caused a climate crisis in and of itself, but it exacerbates the consequences thereof. And that is a result of the restrictions imposed on access to water and agricultural land. As a result, this is also because of the limitations placed on access to water resources and wells. It's also due to the destruction of land, of farms, and of the wide scale burning of trees and forests as a result of the Israeli occupation. Thus, the pressing need for the state of Palestine's people to have the resources to be able to respond to these droughts, which we're seeking to do, struggling to do currently with ever limited and ever dwindling resources. Confronting and overcoming drought needs to be a subject that's integrated in food security policies, in water security policies. It needs to be a central part thereof, as well as a central part of rural development strategies and policies. Chair, we need to move from drought management and a reactive approach to drought prevention. We also need to shift models and mindsets from merely reacting to states of emergency to upstream preparedness, thus the pressing need firstly to craft integrated early warning and monitoring systems, systems that can also be used to assess risks and potential vulnerabilities. Second, we need to bolster the capacities of farmers, rural populations and communities and to use smart farming practices in order to rehabilitate land, soil and earth and to restore land and to ensure that we can pursue more drought resilient harvests and crops. Thirdly, we need to make sure that we have in place insurance and financing mechanisms that will allow the most vulnerable in society to absorb and withstand the effects of these crises. Palestine is faced with a full impact and array of this complex crisis. We believe that investing in humankind, in land and water, is the key to unlocking investment in the future. That is why we call upon the entire international community to step up the plate and shoulder its responsibilities, not just vis-a-vis drought, and reaction there too, but also in terms of drought prevention. Drought is not just linked to a lack of rainfall, for example, but also to a lack of hope. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of the State of Palestine. I now give the floor to Chad.

Thank you very much, COP17 Chair. Ladies and gentlemen, heads of delegation. Faced with the recurrent droughts that have struck Chad, a country in the Sahara region which is strongly exposed to drought, resilience is built on three intrinsically intertwined priorities, securing water, restoring land, and preserving livelihoods. It is in that understanding that water security has been set as a national top priority in the national development plan, Connection Chad 2030. in Chad, an initiative personally led by His Excellency Marshal Mohamed Idriss Deby Itno, the President of the Republic and Head of State. The ambition underpinning this initiative is to ensure sustainable access to water, to secure production and industrial systems, and to bolster the resilience of our peoples to withstand drought and climate change. This national ambition was reaffirmed during the National African Forum on Water and Sanitation, which took place in N'Djamena. We used this as an opportunity to call for strengthening of governance in the sector, to ensure a greater mobilization and integrated management of water resources, as well as integrated management of hydraulic infrastructure and sustainable access to water for our people and for our production and industrial systems. This vision, uh, that was spelled out in Njamena outside national forum, we believe aligns neatly with the ambition and scale of COP17, where there has been strong calls to bring about a paradigm shift, moving from a reactive management of droughts to an approach founded on anticipation, prevention, and sustainable investment in resilience. It is in that understanding that our government has prepared and validated with the support of the global bank, the water security and resilience support project in Chad, PASER. The purpose of this project is to invest in safe drinking water and sanitation infrastructure, to pursue nature-based solutions, to pursue land restoration and the restoration of water basins, as well as to bolster resilience in agricultural and pastoral systems. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sure you will agree with me that all the projects I've just shared with you are all well and good, but far short of what is needed because the needs are still considerable. Chad therefore calls for a market increase in concessional, I beg your pardon, climate finance earmarked for drought. We also call for steps to be taken to strengthen early warning systems and to support holistic and integrated investment. that connects the nexus between water, land, agriculture, cattle herding and restoration of ecosystems. Our message is a categorical one. Drought must no longer be understood or viewed as a succession of crisis to which we respond on emergency footing. It is something that needs to be anticipated and viewed and responded to as a structural development challenge, as a food security challenge and as a land stability challenge. Chad is very much willing to act alongside its partners to invest more today in water security and land restoration. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Chad, for this statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Bangladesh.

Mr. Chair, excellencies, distinguished delegates, It is an honor to address this dialogue on behalf of the government of People's Republic of Bangladesh. We thank the government of Mongolia for hosting COP17 and the Secretariat for convening this session. For Bangladesh, drought and land degradation take two connected forms. In our northwest, some part of Bangladesh suffer recurring agricultural drought and failing water tables. Along our coast, salinity intrusion is degrading farmland and freshwater sources, compounded by flooding and riverbank erosion. That is the operating reality for our one of the most densely populated climate exposed delta nations on earth. Drought prone land across our northwestern district span an estimated 5.46 million hectares, with roughly 16,000 deep tube wells drawing down groundwater faster than it recharges. As a result, we have restricted further irrigation in some of the places. Agro-meteorological information systems track drought indicators in real time, delivering proper specific advisories to farmers by SMS, voice call, and mobile app. Our government is advancing dry land and forest restoration under the National Green Mission, targeting the planting of 250 million tree saplings across the country. Bangladesh is also excavating and re-excavating canals, rivers, and water bodies as a nature-based drought response, approximately 20,000 kilometers of waterways over the next five years. increasing surface water availability and easing pressure on the groundwater. We stand ready to share this scalable, low cost practice with other groundwater stressed drylands. On our coast, rising seas and declining dry season river flows are pushing saline water into cropland, threatening drinking water sources and livelihoods for millions. Our national green mission is restoring coastal mangroves as a natural buffer. Both challenges trace back to water management across the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna basin, shared with our neighbors. Adequate rises and flow is a land degradation control measure, not a peripheral issue. We urge this dialogue to treat basin-wide cooperation.

I thank Bangladesh for the statement I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran you have.

In the name of God Mr. chairman ladies and gentlemen greetings at the outset I should express my thanks and appreciation to the honorable to the government and nation of Mongolia for hosting this meeting this and for their hospitality. The desertification is not limited within the political boundaries of each country. This is a transboundary transsectoral phenomenon which endangers environmental security of the globe. We could, we can expand our determination, collective determination and mobilize our efforts for the tackling with desertification. 2026 is the International Year of Range and Rangelanders. It is an opportunity for doing our best in order to provide a sustainable management of rangelands and deserts. The dear participants, The Islamic Republic of Iran is one of the forerunners, the first countries which joined the UNCCD and it has extended the knowledge, international knowledge and indigenous knowledge regarding the combat against desertification. The management system of our, for the natural resources in our country is, has 120 years old. During the past 10 years or past decades, we have carried out great efforts in order to control sand, storms and in deserts and we are ready to share these practices with the rest of the world. We believe that combating climate change and desertification cannot be limited within the boundaries. Therefore, we emphasize on the fact that GDF and other funds should be allocated on an equal basis for the member states. It is necessary to point out that in the recent attacks of the United States and Israel against our country, in which the United States, without observing the international rules of law and the international UN charter and its additional protocols, the United States and Israel attacked our food infrastructure, drug infrastructure, they attacked our rangelands. our and they attacked those forces who were support were supposed to manage the desertification issues and many of our colleagues lost their lives during these attacks we believe that today energy and food of the world has been taken hostage by a group of hegemonic powers and they are preventing the arrival of energy and food to the rest of the world through sanctions through besieging I believe that international community should do their responsibility in these circumstances that do not allow other others take the food hostage hope so that Natasha Kormi Konam.

Republic of Iran and give the floor to Maldives.

Honorable Chair, Madam Executive Secretary, Honorable Ministers, and distinguished delegates. Assalamu alaikum and a very good morning, in fact, afternoon. It's an honor to address this dialogue on water at the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNCCD. For Maldives, water security is inseparable from climate security, public health, and national resilience. As low-lying nations, we have no rivers or substantial water surface reserves. Our community depends entirely on fragile water lenses, rainfall harvesting, and desalination. Drought is experienced differently across different regions. While Maldives may not experience conventional drought as continental countries do, we remain highly vulnerable to water resource stress from reduced or irregular rainfall. Prolonged dry periods limit groundwater recharge and increase reliance on already constrained freshwater resources, pressure further compounded by sea level rise, coastal flooding and saltwater intrusion, which can reduce the volume and quality of our freshwater lens and in some cases render them totally unusable. The Government of Maldives is responding with practical measures. We are strengthening desalination water storage and distribution systems and advancing rainwater harvesting while reaffirming the value of traditional knowledge in resilient water management. We are also advancing groundwater lens assessment and water quality monitoring and strengthening wastewater and sewage management to protect shallow, exceptionally vulnerable groundwater resources. And we are pursuing more sustainable systems including renewable energy and desalination because in island communities, water security and energy security are closely connected. Through regional platforms, Maldives is strengthening exchange on desalination groundwater management, rainwater harvesting, utility operations and emergency preparedness with fellow atoll nations. This April, as the chair of Maldives, hosted the Climate Induced Water Security Conference in Atoll Nations Forum. Through exchanges and through our experience, we know that water security and drought resilience in SIDS require both healthy ecosystems and resilient infrastructure, protecting wetlands, vegetation, groundwater recharge, and coastal systems protect water resources in communities that depend on them. excellencies addressing the acute water storage security challenges face SIDS requires strong global solidarity we urge international partners to provide predictable and accessible finance technology transfer and capacity building design for SIDS realities for an atoll nation restoring land means protecting the systems that capture store and filter fresh water Maldives stands ready to work with parties and partners to advance integrated land water management thank you.

I thank Maldives for the statement and give the floor to the distinguished representative of Tuvalu.

Honorable Chair, Dalawa and warm greetings from Tuvalu. It is a privilege for me to join this important ministerial dialogue on this particular issue, drought governance, that of great concern to Tuvalu and small island developing states. Chair, drought must be understood within the broader context of climate change, water and food security, land degradation, biodiversity loss and disaster risk. Our circumstances may differ from larger and more drought prone countries, but the challenge is the same. We must anticipate risk, prepare our communities and build resilience before drought becomes an emergency. In doing so, We must not disregard indigenous and traditional knowledge. This knowledge has guided our communities since time immemorial. For countries like mine, traditional knowledge does not compete with science. It complements science. Drought resilience also cannot be built by governments alone. It must be a collective effort. We need a holistic approach where academics, scientists, indigenous peoples, civil societies, Local communities and government can work together because none of us can address this challenge alone. States experience drought differently, but its consequences can be equally severe. In Tuvalu, where land and fresh water are extremely limited, even a relative short period without rainfall can place serious stress on our communities. Chair, I am not speaking about something I have simply read a report or read it somewhere. However, these are realities of our communities experience. They affect livelihoods and add to displacement pressures already being intensified by climate change related sea level rise. For us, strengthening drought resilience is therefore critical to protecting our people's right to stay. A key principle of the recently adopted Global Principles for Climate Mobility, Tuvalu is among the countries that have endorsed these principles, and we encourage other governments to follow suit. Recognition of special circumstances of SIDS and LDCs therefore matter to us. We cannot change our geography, but we can strengthen how we manage our limited land and resources. Financing remains a critical issue for all of us who are here today. Our message, Chair, is very clear. We should shift from responding after drought strikes and prepare well for future drought. From fragmented interventions to integrated resilience and from vulnerability to greater preparedness.

I thank you, Chair.

I thank Tuvalu for the statement and give the floor to Zimbabwe, please.

Uh, excellencies, Zimbabwe has drawn lessons, vital lessons from the El Nino induced drought of 2023-24 season, which compelled us to mobilize significant resources to stabilize food supplies. The central lesson is clear, food security planning is paramount. It is therefore imperative that drought planning is embedded in national planning. Zimbabwe's drought resilience policy is firmly anchored in Vision 2030. the National Development Strategy and the Agriculture Food Systems and Rural Transformation Strategy 2026 to 2030. Zimbabwe now prioritizes climate smart farming practices, artificial intelligence, embedded grain movement, expanded irrigation, integrated fertilizer support. A comprehensive agriculture and food security cluster response framework has also been established to strengthen preparedness and coordination. Zimbabwe has advanced the conservation agriculture model across all agro ecological zones, making it a permanent drought mitigation strategy. Farmers in vulnerable areas are being encouraged to prioritize drought tolerant traditional grains such as sorghum, pearl millet, and finger millet, supported by grain swap incentives. The cultivated area for these adapted crops will be doubled in the upcoming season. the accelerated irrigation rehabilitation and development plan we aim to bring additional 75,000 hectares under irrigation complementing household level P practices further Zimbabwe safeguarding livestock based live loads prepositioning drought tolerant seeds and inputs and prioritizing water harvesting and irrigation the village business units program called comprising 35,000 units concentrated in high risk regions is supported by trading lakes and water harvesting Technologies looking ahead s is projected to become dry we must therefore upscale climate smart agriculture accelerate irrigation development from Village National levels operationalize additional irrigation scheme business units expand small scale farmer productivity booster keys strengthen commercial farmer irrigation infrastructure and utilize our 10,600 dams excellencies Zimbabwe students prepared to collaborate with partners to build proactive resilience together we can ensure that our food systems live loads and ecosystems withstand the challenges posed by a changing climate I thank you I.

Thank the distinguished representative of Zimbabwe and give the floor to South Sudan.

Thank you, Your Excellency. Distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor to address this.

Ministerial dialogue on behalf of the government and people of the Republic of South Sudan.

Allow me to extend our sincere appreciation to the government of Mongolia for hosting UNCD COP17.

Under the compelling theme, restoring land, restoring hope, and to the UNCCD Secretariat for keeping drought resilience at the forefront of global action. South Sudan stands at the front lines of the global climate crisis.

We face a harsh dual paradox.

While severe floods submerge entire communities in part of our nation, relentless and prolonged droughts.

Devastate our dry lands and the pastoral region in the state like Eastern Equatoria, over seven million of our people experience acute food shortage due to these compounding shocks.

Which shrink arable land, deplete water resources, and threaten the survival of our livestock to the bedrock of our pastoral.

Communities.

Yet South Sudan refuses to be defined merely by vulnerability.

We are shifting our strategy from reactive emergency response to proactive systemic risk management, anticipatory action and early warning. In partnership with the UN World Food Program and the global partners, South.

Sudan has pioneered anticipatory action plan by combining scientific forecasting.

With prearranged emergency financing and cash transfer. We are enabling pastoralists and agro-pastoralist community to prepare for drought long before severe dry spells strike.

Digital innovation and e-extension.

We are expanding digital agriculture initiatives, utilizing localized audiovisual tools, offline data platforms, and satellite analysis to deliver early warnings, sustainable land management practices, and drought-tolerant farming strategies directly to rural farmers. Landscape restoration and security through community-led land degradation neutrality targets and the Green Climate Funds enhancing climate resilience projects. We are rehabilitating degraded soils and managing cross-border pasture resources to build lasting peace and reduce climate driven displacement. As we mark the 2026 International Year of Rangelands and the Pastoralist, here.

I thank South Sudan for the statement and give the floor to Mali. Mali, you have the floor.

Merci, Monsieur le President.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, For Mali, as for many countries in the Sahel region, drought is not an exception. It is a structural development risk for farming, livestock breeding, water resources, ecosystems, food security, and the means of survival for our population. Given this reality, our conviction is clear. We must move from reacting to anticipating. We must move towards prevention and resilience. In Mali, this can be seen through the implementation since 2020 of a national drought plan, which is based on three key pillars: monitoring and early warning, risk assessment and vulnerability evaluation, and prevention and resilience measures. Our country also has an early warning system and climate services, and we must further strengthen these. Climate information needs to rapidly lead to early warning, early action for the exposed communities. But resilience needs to be built in the field on the land. And so we've been investing in natural adaptation infrastructure. We are making sure that we can restore land so that it better retains water and communities can absorb any climate shocks and crises. This approach needs to go hand in hand with sustainable water management, sustainable farming and pastoral practices and support for communities, in particular for women and young people. Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, anticipation also requires us to ensure capacity building for the population and financing mechanisms which are accessible to the most vulnerable countries. Mali remains ready to strengthen our cooperation with African and international partners for early warning, monitoring, sharing knowledge, and financing resilience in the strict respect of sovereignty. It is in this spirit that we call for cooperation which sustainably bolsters national capacity and allows vulnerable countries to anticipate in a better manner rather than purely suffering the consequences of these, as investing in prevention and resilience before the crisis is much more effective than just surviving the consequences of a social and economic nature. And ambition is clear. We want to no longer suffer through doubt. We want to build up our land so it is ready to be resilient to these changes and to build on and build positively following the impact of these crises. Thank you, Mali.

I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of China. China, you have the floor.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, on behalf of the Ministry of Water Resources of China, I would like to congratulate the government of Mongolia on the successful holding of the COP17 and thank the Convention Secretariat and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change of Mongolia and Water Agency of Mongolia for their China's per capita water resources is only 35% of the world average, President Xi Jinping has put forward the pioneering principle of priorities in water conservation through spatial balance, systemic governance and use of both public and private channels. We have several experiences. First, conserving water is for drought resilience. The government has promulgated regulations on water conservation and has vigorously implemented national water saving initiative. So despite economic growth and growth in grain harvest, China's use of water registered zero growth. Second, we ensure spatial balance in water allocation. and the Ministry for Water Resources of China promotes integrated basin-wide management so as to balance water use for production, daily life, and ecological needs. Third, empowering governance is done through policy and technology interface. China has imposed the mandatory restrictions on water use, so we try to address the root cause of unsustainable practice. We have three proposals to offer. First, it's important that we establish basin-level assessment system for assessing carrying capacities and to address the root cause of the risks. And second, it's important to adopt soil erosion as a primary indicator for land degradation, recognize soil and water conservation as a principal pathway to restoration. Third, it's important to strengthen coordination between policy and technology, improve legal framework and integrate research technology dissemination into a full chain. Ladies and gentlemen, China's ministry will implement the global initiatives proposed by President Xi Jinping. We will work with other countries and other international organizations in our joint endeavor to address land degradation, drought, and safeguard our shared green home on earth. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of China. Now give the floor to Montenegro. You have the floor.

Mr. Chair, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is an honor to address this high level dialogue on behalf of Montenegro. Water is the heart of sustainable development, climate resilience, food security and healthy ecosystems. At the same time, it is increasingly at risk from climate change, land degradation and unsustainable resource use. Although Montenegro is recognized as a water rich country, we are not immune to these challenges. In recent years, we have experienced long droughts, higher temperatures, more frequent wildfires and increasing pressure on ecosystems and water resources. These trends remind us that water security can no longer be taken for granted. As a Mediterranean country, Montenegro is particularly vulnerable to changing precipitation partners and increasing drought risks. This makes it essential to strengthen integrated water and land management as a key pillar of climate adaptation and sustainable development. We believe that healthy soils, forests, wetlands and river basins are our first line of defense against droughts. Protecting and restoring these ecosystems improves water retention, reduces land degradation, strengthens biodiversity and enhances the resilience of communities and economies. Nature-based solutions therefore represent one of the most effective investments we can make. At the national level, Montenegro is implementing measures to improve water governance, protect river basins, restore degraded lands and strengthen climate adaptation. Attention is given to the protection of the Skadar Lake ecosystem, one of the most valuable freshwater wetlands in the Western Balkans, as well as to the sustainable management of mountain water sheds that provide essential ecosystems. Recognizing the growing risk of droughts, Montenegro, with the support of UNCCD and FAO, developed its national drought plan, strengthening preparedness and promoting preventive action. We believe that investing in resilience today is far more effective and less costly than responding to the consequences of drought tomorrow. Water challenges do not stop at national borders. Stronger regional cooperation, knowledge sharing, access to finance and coordinated implementation of water, land and climate policies are essential for building resilience, particularly in vulnerable regions such as the Mediterranean. Excellencies, Protecting water means protecting our people, our economies and our future. Montenegro remains fully committed to working with all partners to strengthen drought resilience, promote integrated water management and advance the objectives of the UNCCD. Thank you.

I thank Montenegro for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Plurinational State of Bolivia. You have the floor.

Your Excellencies, distinguished ministers and delegates, I would like on behalf of Bolivia to convey to you all the warm greetings of our President, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, and of our peoples and communities. We're meeting here together at this COP17 under an undeniable truth. Land and water combine to make a single living entity. Today, land degradation is no longer a distant or vague threat. It's a very present crisis which strikes at the heart of our food security, of our ecosystems and of life itself. In Bolivia, The effects of climate change, prolonged drought and extreme water stress are not mere statistics. Behind the numbers are rivers that are drying up in the high Sierra. They are lost harvests in the Los Valles region and the constant risk of fires in Gran Chaco and the Amazon regions. Rural women, smallholders, Indigenous peoples are at the front line of suffering the impact of the inequalities inherent in a global development model that has commercialised nature. Faced with this reality, Bolivia has come to this COP17 not just to share with you our vulnerabilities, but we've come rather to put on the table concrete proposals, holistic proposals that are based on comprehensive and holistic water management and on the pursuit of environmental resilience. Our first concrete proposal is that we place water at the heart of resilience efforts. The fight against desertification is on a hiding to nothing if we fail to guarantee water security. Bolivia therefore suggests that this conference considers consolidating a programme for global financing of water resilience for fragile water basins which protect key water sources, recharging zones for aquifers and high Andes wetlands. We request that the UNCCD prioritizes water storage, stockage and harvesting and green infrastructure as core measures of drought adaptation. Our second concrete suggestion, we need to ensure access to direct and streamlined financing that is free of red tape. We cannot respond to a climate crisis if it means additional financial burdens for developing countries. We would therefore propose that the land degradation neutrality fund, the LDN funds, and the drought financing mechanisms operate by the vehicle of direct responsive and non-reimbursable transfers to local communities and smallholders. The microphone of the speaker is cut off.

I thank Plural national state of Bolivia. And now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Azerbaijan. Madam, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. I would like firstly to refer to the last IPCC assessment report, which clearly highlights that drought is not only related to a lack of rainfall. It is a result of imbalances across hydrological, ecological, and land system related to climate change. Ensuring drought resilience requires us to bring together all sectors, including science and early warning. During the past 10 years, Azerbaijan, duration of drought increased 90% in Azerbaijan, which makes drought preparedness and sustainable water management a growing priority. And the recently adopted national strategy on the efficient use of water resources up to 2040, Azerbaijan invests to strengthen water management and enhance drought resilience. Smart land management is priority on the restoration activities in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur regions of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan also by support of UNCCD, FAO and GEF, is advancing its land degradation neutrality target. As a part of our land restoration activities, the protected areas was expand over 10.5%. There's a recent creation of Ahar Bahar and Ilysu National Park. I would like to draw your attention once again to the inland water decline issue, especially we faced in Caspian Sea region that required deeper scientific research and better understanding of their long-term scenarios. We should admit that nature-based solutions in some cases are more effective than large-scale and costly projects. That is why Azerbaijan as host of World Environment Day, the UNEP highlighted the nature as strongest partner for resilient future in the framework celebration. Colleagues, cooperation between upstream and downstream countries on water management is absolutely important. Considering this during COP29, Azerbaijan initiated the Baku dialogue on water providing an additional platform to keep water issue on global agenda in conclusion let us move forward from determination to deliver tangible action I thank you.

I thank Azerbaijan for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Uruguay. Uruguay, you have the floor.

Distinguished ministers, distinguished delegates, As far as Uruguay is concerned, strengthening drought resilience necessitates making steps towards the integrated and sustainable management of water and land, a management based on prevention, scientific knowledge and cooperation across different levels of government. Our country envisages water resilience as a state-level policy. one in which the water basin constitutes a fundamental building block and unit for understanding and managing risk linked to climate variability and climate change. Recent experience in Uruguay has shown us that drought is not simply a matter of the availability of water or lack thereof. Its impacts are felt simultaneously on our production sectors, on ecosystems, on water quality and safe drinking water supply. For that reason, managing events such as drought requires a holistic, comprehensive vision that allows us to anticipate risks, reduce vulnerabilities and bolster the response capacity at the territorial level. In that understanding, Uruguay advocates for a preventive drought risk management model, one that is underpinned by information, monitoring, modelling, an assessment of vulnerabilities and the building of early warning systems. All of these actions take one fundamental premise as their starting point. Water resilience is built at the water basin level. It has to be pursued via the participation of society and it it needs to combine infrastructure, sustainable land management, ecosystem protection and nature based solutions. Water risks are no respecter of borders, nor are they limited to a single sector of society, although they do impact to a greater extent the most vulnerable in society, further underscoring inequalities. Drought has, as adverse impacts that cut across rural and urban territories, productive sectors, ecosystems and communities. For all of the aforementioned reasons, resilience to drought requires collective and coordinated responses, bringing together sectors, lands and different levels of government and society. As far as Uruguay is concerned, crafting resilience means a holistic and integrated management of water and land. strengthening interlinkages between rural and urban areas, and promoting the idea of shared responsibilities and action to protect people, ecosystems, and productive and industrial activities. As we chart this course going forward, Uruguay reaffirms its commitment to international cooperation and to the exchange of experiences and lessons learned as well as knowledge. We are firmly persuaded that anticipating drought, reducing our vulnerabilities. The microphone of the speaker has cut off.

I thank Uruguay for the statement and now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mauritania. You have the floor.

Thank you very much. In the name of God, Mr. President, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Mauritania welcomes this ministerial dialogue on strengthening resilience to drought, which is a priority for the dryland countries, particularly in the Sahel area in Mauritania. Drought, desertification, and land degradation are structural challenges that directly impact water resources, food security, and rural livelihoods, and on all ecosystems in general. To respond to these challenges, Mauritania is fostering an integrated approach predicated on prevention and resilience instead of response to crises. This requires in particular strengthening early warning systems, degraded land restoration and sustainable management of natural resources, as well as fostering climate adapted agricultural and pastoral practices. We believe that addressing drought must be mainstreamed completely in the national policies for development, climate adaptation policies, policies for water and food security, as well as maintaining biodiversity. In terms of finance, the most vulnerable countries require more resources that are accessible and predictable. Countries must have accessible finance to the multilateral funds that allow long-term investments in resilience. Mauritania calls for bolstering international cooperation, exchange of technologies and knowledge in addition to partnerships between governments. and IFIs, international organizations, and scientific community at large. In this respect, we renew our collective commitment to making resilience to drought a main pillar for sustainable development. In this respect, we renew our full support to the efforts of the UNCCD to galvanize international action to address desertification drought and land degradation, we call for concrete results in the conclusion of this session. Thank you.

I thank Mauritania for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Costa Rica.

Thank you very much, Chair, Your Excellencies, distinguished delegates. Costa Rica very much welcomes the fact that we are having this important ministerial dialogue here in Ulaanbaatar against the backdrop of COP17. Although we in Costa Rica are a tropical country famed for the richness of our water resources, we are just as vulnerable to drought as any other country. Indeed, it needs to be underscored that it is not necessary to be an arid or desert country to suffer the consequences of drought, and our experience demonstrates the truth of that assertion. Costa Rica has made Herculean efforts to ensure that our electricity grid was historically powered almost 100% by renewable energies, and water represented some 72% of that renewable energy mix. Nonetheless, during recent periods of drought, water levels in the water basins that fuel the hydroelectric plants in our country fell by between 50 and 70%. The reduced availability of water in turn reduced hydroelectric output and compelled the country to resort to backups using fossil fuels to guarantee the stability of supply. Drought can therefore compromise and undermine decarbonisation efforts. And that's a tangible demonstration of how that can occur. It's a concrete example of our climate vulnerability. In Guanacaste, in the northern region of our country, communities and productive sectors have also been confronted with periods of prolonged drought, with pressure on water sources and a growing phenomenon of constant swings between drought and extremely heavy rain. For that reason, we have been for the last year significantly impacted by the super El Nino effect which has led into forest fires and another wealth or range of climate related disasters. It is for that reason that we believe that resilience needs to be pursued upstream of emergency via the protection of water basins and aquifer recharge zones, the conservation of wetlands and soils, the restoration of land and water efficient agriculture, as well as through monitoring and early warning systems. But prevention, of course, requires financing, requires money. Costa Rica welcomes the International Drought Resilience Alliance, the IDRA, a REID initiative launched at COP16, as well as the rollout of the Drought Resilience Investment Facility. At COP17, we need to convert these decisions into concrete, effective access to resources governed by transparent rules and eligibility criteria that factors in the actual state of vulnerability of the countries rather than basing decisions solely on per capita income or on the basis of whether a country has desert regions or not. We call for the mobilization of new additional accessible and predictable resources from all sources, including international cooperation, multilateral funds such as the Jeff development banks, national budgets and the private sector. These resources should backstop. There's microphone of the speakers cut off.

I sent Costa Rica. Thank you, Costa Rica for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Dominican Republic. You have the floor.

President of COP, Executive Secretary, Ministers, Deputy Ministers and Representatives, ladies and gentlemen, the Dominican Republic welcomes this opportunity to participate in this dialogue on a challenge which is of ever greater relevance with each passing day in the Dominican Republic, despite the fact that we have average levels of rainfall. we are experiencing growing variability in rainy seasons and in patterns of rainfall. Currently, we have been dealing with the aftermath of a prolonged period of shortage of rains, which has been true since May of this year. Our Meteorological Institute has sounded the alarm about a growing risk of meteorological drought throughout the second-half of the year in a context impacted into Alia by shifts in the El Nino phenomenon. This scenario combines in a potent mix of rains, high temperatures and a unique extraordinary atmospheric and climatic conditions, reminding us that drought is a multidimensional risk that impacts water security, ecosystems, agriculture and livelihoods, and that requires an upstream and coordinated response. In that understanding, the Dominican Republic has been taking steps to strengthen its own coordination and response mechanisms via, for example, the National Anti Desertification and Drought Action the creation of an inter-institutional technical group and the crafting of contingency plans established to ensure that we can respond appropriately to drought scenarios, positioning us to coordinate capacity across different sectors and to move towards a more prevention-based, integrated and coordinated drought management approach. These actions go hand in hand with steps that we've taken to bring together different coordination forums such as the Water Cabinet, in which participate institutions linked to water and land management and resource use. This experience has taught us a core lesson resilience before drought begins way upstream of an actual emergency. For this reason, we need to strengthen early warning systems, exchange of climate and hydrological information and institutional capacity so as to be able to anticipate risks and act on a timely basis. There's also a nexus that we need to play to the heart of our policies. We cannot sustainably manage water without sustainably managing land. Your Excellencies, as far as developing countries are concerned, bolstering said resilience requires adequate implementation means. This means accessible and predictable financing, capacity building, transfer of technology, international cooperation, and access to scientific information that can be used to guide domestic level decisions. Drought is no respect with borders and our responses can also not be siloed behind national borders. We reiterate our commitment to a preventive, integrated and risk-based drought management approach which links together water and land management, science and public policy, and national planning with action at the grassroots level because dealing with drought does not begin when we are already dealing with its impact but when we decide to anticipate said impacts to invest in prevention and to act in a coordinated manner. Thank you very much.

I thank Dominican Republic for the statement. I now give the floor to Burkina Faso.

Distinguished personality.

Chair, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the government of Burkina Faso, I wish to welcome this dialogue on drought resilience, which is one of the major challenges that lands, our populations and our economies are confronted with today. For Burkina Faso, drought is not a far off threat. It is a reality which directly impacts our land, our farming, our livestock breeding, our water resources and the livelihoods of millions of people. It is exacerbated by unpredictable climate change, land degradation, all of these things which increase the vulnerability of our population. Despite this, Burkina Faso is pursuing its efforts to restore degraded land, to strengthen vegetation and to promote farming, forestry and pastoral systems which are more resilient. In our strategic plan, the relaunch plan 2026-2030, we have national sovereignty, land resilience and sustainable and natural resources management at the heart of public action to address these challenges. And we have integrated management of drought, which is a major tool to implement this relaunch plan. Through the initiatives, a battle for the strengthening of vegetation and the battle for water, which implemented under the auspices of our president, President Traore, our country is committed to plant five million trees during the patriotic hour to green Burkina Faso during the National Day of the Tree and to recovery of 43.23% of degraded land, integration of 11,500 green jobs per year and reduce the rate of deforestation from 1.18% to 0.8% by 2030, to build five new dams and to optimize the use of groundwater through building 100 high flow boreholes and we have created four agropoles and we have also recovered pastoral land and restored pastoral land. All of these measures support our national system, which is a robust warning system for climate phenomena so we can anticipate risks. Chair, Burkina Faso calls for increased mobilization of financing so that we can really take account of the knowledge, which is indigenous knowledge developed by communities. We reaffirm our commitment to the common African position to reinforce, to to step up international action faced with drought and to work on prevention, anticipation and better community preparation. Chair, Burkina Faso calls for this COP17 to be decisive in accelerating action in the field to restore land, to secure water, to strengthen community resilience is our individual and common task for us to give hope to the world.

Thank you.

Thank you, Burkina Faso.

I now give the floor to Philippines. You have the floor.

Mr. Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, like many others who have spoken before us, Philippines recognizes drought as more than temporary shortage of water. Its impact extends across agriculture, food and water security, livelihood ecosystems and resilience of our communities. Our experience reinforces an important lesson. Drought resilience must be built before drought becomes a crisis. This requires moving from reactive responses towards proactive, integrated and long-term drought management supported by science and early warning, sustainable management of land and water resources, preparedness, adequate financing, and strong national and local capacities. For the Philippines, these efforts must ultimately translate into action on the ground. Early warning must inform early action. Plans must guide timely interventions. Resources must reach farmers and vulnerable communities whose livelihood are most exposed to drought and land degradation. We therefore support stronger partnership and international cooperation that reinforces nationally driven drought resilience efforts, facilitate knowledge and appropriate technologies, strengthen capacities and help countries move from planning to sustain implementation. Excellencies, our collective success should not be measured not only by how effectively we respond to this when drought occurs, but how well we have prepared our lands, our systems, and our communities before its impacts become severe. The Philippines stands ready to work with all partners towards a future where preparedness and resilience become the foundation of drought management. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.

Thank you very much, the distinguished representative of Philippines. I now give the floor to Czechia, please.

Thank you, Mr. Chair, Excellencies, distinguished colleagues. Let me once again begin by thanking Mongolia for hosting COP17 and for really warm hospitality. Droul is often described simply as a leg of rain, but it It becomes crisis when our landscape, infrastructure and economies cannot retain water, use it efficiently and withstand period when it does not come. This is no longer a challenge for only traditional dry regions. Czech Republic, like Europe as a whole, is experiencing growing pressure on agriculture, ecosystems and water resources. Our response has therefore shifted from managing individual emergencies to building long-term resilience. Only last week, the Czech government renewed the activity of our national coalition to combat drought, bringing together public authorities, experts and partners. to identify vulnerable areas and coordinate actions. Our first lesson is that water security begins where rain falls, not only in reservoirs, but also in agricultural soils, forests, wastelands, towns, and villages. A resilient landscape must be treated as an essential infrastructure. At the same time, we should avoid a false choice between nature-based measures and technical infrastructure. Healthy soils and wetlands cannot replace every reservoirs or water systems, nor can engineering compensate for a landscape that cannot retain water. We need both, land as a one system. This leave us with three common tasks and three questions on which we should seek practical answers together. First, how we can make prevention and permanent priority, including when drought is less visible. Investing in resilience before drought strike is generally more effective than paying for damage afterwards. Second, how we can align policies and investments across sectors and territories, agriculture, water management, spatial planning, nature protection and disaster risk policy must pursue common objectives. And third, how we can move from counting measures to measuring resilience. Money spent and project completed tell us little unless water retention, soil health, and the resilience of communities actually improve. International cooperation can help us share knowledge and practical solutions, but our priority must be implementation, turning commitments into coordinated and measurable action on the ground. We cannot determine when the rain will fall, but we can determine when it happens to water, when it does, and how prepared our societies will be when it does not. This is the essence of drought resilience. Excellencies, thank you for your attention.

I thank Chekya for this statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Indonesia. Indonesia, you have the floor.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, it is a great honor for Indonesia to share Indonesia's perspective on accelerating drought resilience, which is in line with Indonesia national program. Indonesia would like to highlight contribution of various efforts to increase land rehabilitation, such as afforestation, reforestation, and revegetation. Forest and land rehabilitation restores critical lands within priority area of watersheds to enhance ecosystem services, increase productivity, and sustain life support system. Until 2025, about 2.3 million hectares of land were rehabilitated. The activities include replanting and structural measures in an integrated way with active participation of local communities. The nexus of forest, land and water is not only related to quantity, but also to water quality. For that matter, Indonesia adopts nature-based solution to reduce the cost on environmental protection and to restore the degraded lands on terrestrial peatlands and mangrove. To make effective drought resilient under the leadership of President Prabowo Subianto, Indonesia launches several strategic program for forest and land rehabilitation to restore water resources, particularly, one, integrated watershed management, on the national development and spatial planning, including transboundary watershed and water resource management with Timor-Leste, which is in line with Peace Forest Initiative. Two, tree planting programs in both forest area and private lands to conserve spring water, including under ASRI program, a national revegetation movement through free seedling distribution, launched by President. Three, sustainable land management, especially at the site level, including institutional capacity development. Four, management of reservoir, lake, wetland, and riverbank areas through green belt development and peatland rewetting to control forest fire. Five, river management to control flood sediment and coastal protection. Six, advancing forest rehabilitation, innovative financing by developing a high integrity forest carbon market. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, finally, highlighting the importance of water-related ecosystem, Indonesia enhances implementation of the UN resolution on sustainable lake management and other freshwater ecosystem. Therefore, we bring these strategic issues to this respective event. I thank you.

I thank Indonesia for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Ecuador. Please.

Your Excellency, President of the COP, distinguished ministers and delegates, for Ecuador, 2024 changed forever the way in which we understand drought. The drop in water levels in our main reservoirs was not just a climatic phenomenon. It morphed into a systemic shock which stretched to breaking point our hydroelectric grid. Each hour of electricity rationing represented $12 million of losses to the national economy. The lack of water took entire industries offline, affected the delivery of healthcare services, dealt agriculture a body blow and undermined the living standards of millions of families. It was a tough but indelible lesson. shifted from being a mere environmental crisis. Now in Ecuador, we understand it is a fiscal, productive and social risk and a serious one at that. For that reason, Ecuador is shifting from an emergency response approach towards a national anticipatory management approach. We're updating our national drought action plan and we've set ourselves a clear goal. By 2030, Ecuador will have in place a national monitoring and early warning system with compulsory activation thresholds capable of protecting the most vulnerable sectors before water runs out. This resilience requires us to protect the green infrastructure, which is the lifeline of our country. Our Andean tundras and Amazon forests are the first line of defense for our water resources. Via water funds and hydro resource protection areas, we are protecting life and energy at source. That said, conservation is not financed with fine words and good intentions. We require innovative financing mechanisms, new additional and direct access resources in order to ensure land and territorial adaptation. also need cross-border regional partnerships to monitor shared water basins. Economic and ecological harm caused by drought has left us with a bill that will take us years to pay off. The 2024 crisis threw into stark relief the fact that a drought can plunge a country into a blackout and bring the economy of an entire nation to a halt. We need concrete resources, financing for climate change adaptation and robust and solid commitments to protect the water that are the cradle of life. Protecting land and water is, when all is said and done, protecting peace, energy for development, and the future of our societies. Thank you very much.

I thank Ecuador for its intervention and the kind words to Timor-Leste.

Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, I stand before you today on behalf of the Government of Timor-Leste and its people in this beautiful city of Dili, under the slogan of "Restoring our lands, restoring our hope". But there is.

Through the living below our planet, hydrological mean. As we commit them on the science and the technology, CST, right, in this week, through it focus on living soil, protecting land and resilient landscape. Soil help and the water, sea restoration and inspiration for small island development state like Timor-Leste. Water groups is not critical digital model. It is in the crisis alone in real time. In Timor-Leste, this global emergency, this woman, very familiar, our national data. We the farmer, the core, our opening in the national reporting in the point and the take picture 45% and of the Timor is who experience in their safe water struggling and they have to seek in the morning in the very air in the our rural community 24% of the people still learn basic access access to Who they clearing water? It is our women and our girls who they bear and the crushing we clean off the water working house under trees up to dig and the tree river wide. Sacrifice and they all education and economic potential built in the two back and they allow litter on water. Ladies and gentlemen, the government of Timor-Leste taking action in the treasury, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries. We are the pioneering strategy watershed management across our critical level basin, including transboundary watershed with Indonesia. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Timor-Leste. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Turkey. Please, Turkey, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair, Excellencies, Ministers, distinguished participants. We believe that COP17 will mark an important milestone in strengthening our collective resolve to address drought, and I would like to thank the Government of Mongolia for hosting this important event. Drought has gone beyond being a periodic challenge. We are facing a systemic risk that simultaneously affects food security, economic development, ecosystems, and social wellbeing. Therefore, we need to shift our drought policies from an approach that responds only after a crisis emerges to a comprehensive approach that manages risk in advance and strengthens resilience. Through the drought management plans, we have prepared for all our basins. We identify sexual vulnerabilities and promote water efficiency measures in areas experiencing high water stress. We are implementing a range of measures in an integrated manner from smart irrigation systems and reducing water loss to promoting less water intensive crop patterns and reusing treated wastewater. At the same time, through the Turkey desertification model, we have developed maps of desertification sensitivity and hazard. We are preparing desertification management plans that assess land use change together with socioeconomic trends. However, the success of national policies alone is not sufficient. The transboundary impacts of drought require shared knowledge, shared capacity, and a shared commitment to collective action. Therefore, we believe that in the period ahead, we should focus on three areas, strengthening the exchange of scientific and technical knowledge, scaling up successful practices among countries, and mobilizing the public sector, private sector, and international financial institutions to invest jointly in drought resilience. We expect COP17 to strengthen political and technical leadership in these areas and pave the way for concrete partnership and cooperation. Drought, desertification, land degradation, climate change and biodiversity loss are interconnected elements of the same global risk landscape. Therefore, it is important that the common result we establish here by strongly aligned with the climate agent as well. As Turkey, we stand ready to carry forward the cooperation we strength at COP17 to UNFCCC COP31. We wish to transform the common result we establish here for drought resilience into implementation and stronger partnership at COP31. In this spirit, we will be pleased to welcome you to Turkey on the occasion of COP31. Thank you.

Thank you, Turkey, for the statement. I now give the floor to Burundi, please.

Thank you, President. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, Burundi welcomes the international community's efforts to strengthen the fight against drought, land degradation and desertification and promoting sustainable resilience for populations and ecosystems. Drought today is one of the major challenges that our countries are facing. In Burundi, Disruptions to rainfall, dry periods which are more difficult to predict, land degradation, and the increasing pressure on natural resources directly impact the livelihoods of populations, in particular in rural communities. These phenomena have major consequences for agriculture, livestock, water resources, ecosystems, food security, and the income of households. and they also exacerbate the vulnerability of those populations exposed to poverty and climate events. Given the situation, Burundi reaffirms its commitment to strengthening resilience of communities, lands and ecosystems faced with drought. Our country already has a national plan to combat drought. and the objective is to identify factors of vulnerability, to prioritize measures of adaptation and to propose investment opportunities to allow communities to build their capacity for resilience. six priorities are to strengthen sustainable land management, to promote agriculture, which is resilient to drought, to improve water security, to strengthen early warning systems and the availability of climate data, to put communities at the center of resilience efforts, and to build up restoration of ecosystems. President, ladies and gentlemen, Burundi recognizes that we need to have major investment in financial, technological, and human resources. We call upon our partners in development, international financial institutions, and climate financing mechanisms, and technical partners to increase their support to vulnerable countries such as Burundi to allow us to implement programs for drought resilience on a large scale. Financing should be more guided towards prevention, anticipation, and restoration rather than just responding to crisis once they've occurred. Burundi research our belief in an integrated approach based on sustainable land management, water security, resilient agriculture, restoring ecosystems, early warning, strengthening of capacities, and mobilizing financing, we remain committed to fully contributing to collective efforts to restore land, to build resilient communities, and to build a sustainable future for present and future generations.

Je vous remercie.

I thank Burundi.

I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation.

Please.

Distinguished President, first and foremost, allow me to thank the Republic of Mongolia for the excellent organization of this event. And then in our communication, we would like to note in particular that drought is a comprehensive challenge for our country, as we have so many different climate zones. And we need to have monitoring, which is carried out, to have prevention, to have vulnerability assessments, and to make sure that we have sustainable management of our resources. The Russian Federation supports moving from reaction to prevention and have sustainable risk management. We need to have geological work which is carried out sustainably, to have monitoring, early warning, to have risk vulnerability assessments and rapid reaction. We need to develop national monitoring systems, to have scientific information, to train specialists and to implement specific projects to have land resilience and restore land which has been degraded. We need to make sure that we work together in the region and national plans and measures must be decided upon by states themselves and be conducted in accordance with national legislation and cooperation with other international and regional procedures must be carried out to avoid duplication. Further activities here, we need to look at a future framework program which would have active exchange of experience upon the request of countries. We believe that we need to carry out monitoring and to have accounting measures in place so that we can ensure we have the best available technology and financial resources which are available. But this should not be an additional burden on countries. We should make sure that we work together on the basis of consensus to have the right mandate with existing resources, with voluntary financial contributions as well, so that we can have a result which ensures better prediction and that we work with scientific input Thank you very much.

I thank the representative, distinguished representative of the Russian Federation. I now give the floor to Pakistan to be followed by South Africa. Pakistan, you have the floor.

Thank you very much. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, around 80% of Pakistan's land is arid or semi-arid. And nearly half of this area is affected by various forms of land degradation. At the same time, Pakistan is increasingly facing both extremes of the water cycle, prolonged droughts and devastating floods, placing growing pressure on the Indus Basin, food security and water security. International reporting further indicates that approximately six million hectares were affected by drought, exposing around 64.5 million people. excidencies climate extremes are no longer isolated events Pakistan is increasingly experiencing both ends of the hydrological spectrum severe droughts alongside catastrophic floods the 2022 floods alone affected more than 33 million people demonstrating the profound human economic and environmental consequences of increasing climate vulnerability Pakistan is strengthening its National response through drought preparedness and monitoring, early warning systems, water conservation, efficient irrigation, groundwater recharge, and ecosystem-based approaches that build the resilience of landscapes and communities. Distinguished delegates, Pakistan calls for stronger international action to, first, establish accessible, predictable, and grant-based financing. windows for drought resilience, particularly for vulnerable developing countries. Second, strengthen regional cooperation on drought monitoring, forecasting, early warning, and knowledge sharing. Third, accelerate access to technology, data, and innovation, including satellite-based monitoring, digital early warning systems, and climate-smart water management solutions. Excellencies, we must act before drought becomes a crisis. Investing today in resilient landscapes, sustainable and secure water systems, stronger early warning and preparedness, and empowered communities is the most effective way to reduce future losses. Pakistan stands ready to work with all parties and partners to advance collective, practical, and adequately financed action on drought resilience. I thank you, Excellencies.

Thank you, Pakistan. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of South Africa, to be followed by Kyrgyzstan. South Africa, you have the floor.

Excellencies, honorable ministers, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, South Africa takes pleasure to participate in this segment convened today here in the beautiful city of Ulaanbaatar and wish to express this opportunity, our appreciation for the hospitality extended to us by the government and the people of Mongolia. Excellencies, the World Health Organization has established that globally droughts affect about 55 million people directly every year. Broadly, up to four billion people experience severe water scarcity for at least one month per year, and up to 1.84 billion people live on land directly exposed to drought conditions. We are aware and can agree that drought is a major global challenge. And in that respect, requires global coordination and response solutions. The existing drought-related instruments and frameworks remain fragmented, insufficiently coordinated, and largely voluntary with no binding obligations requiring states to take action. Further, this fragmentation denies parties an opportunity to develop a global response instrument that can coordinate and integrate actions and galvanize our collective efforts to proactively address drought. Excellencies, Africa carries its mandate from the African Union and the African Ministers Conference on Nature and Environment decision, which calls for a dedicated global drought instrument under this convention, which will provide a coherent, coordinated, and legally grounded framework for addressing the growing impacts of drought worldwide. Such an instrument will enable a shift from a peaceful, reactive approach to crisis management and towards a risk-based drought management framework with predefined scientific triggers and institutional mechanisms. It will further establish clear thresholds and response stages, preventing arbitrary panic-driven decision making and reducing the risk of both underreacting and overreacting to drought emergencies. Largely, it will foster greater synergies between climate change, biodiversity loss, and water security, and bring together meteorological agencies, agricultural sector, water authorities, and other relevant stakeholders under a single coordinated framework. Excellencies, it is our conviction the agency to accelerate and scale up the intervention on drought will further strengthen collaboration partnerships at all levels. Discussions on this matter have taken longer than anticipated. We are concerned that up to this far we have not...

Thank you, South Africa, for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kyrgyzstan.

Distinguished President, distinguished participants in this ministerial dialogue, on behalf of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, I wish to express our gratitude for having given us this opportunity to take part in this ministerial dialogue. Kyrgyzstan, as a mountainous country, is a source of the main river systems of Central Asia. However, rapid climate change Changes in the character of precipitation and shrinking access to water in dry periods have created new and critical risks for our rural communities and pastoral ecosystems. In this context, we must consolidate efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change and to preserve water resources. We need to have urgent measures taken to ensure comprehensive and rational use of water resources, preserving sources of water and catchment areas, all countries should make a fair and proportionate contribution to this process. Despite the relatively limited use of water resources in our country, we bear a disproportionate amount of expense linked to the maintenance of water infrastructure, we call for the development of a mutually beneficial compensation mechanism for water use, including compensation for the maintenance preservation of water infrastructure, maintaining reservoirs and sources of water. mountain ecosystems and glaciers. The President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Mr. Jabarov, initiated a regional center for energy efficient and resource saving technology. We hope that the center will be able to ensure environmental sustainability and the comprehensive integrated use of water resources and promote a green economy for the development of the region. Kyrgyzstan actively participates in initiatives to combat drought. sand and dust storms, and carrying out programs of international donors. One of the unique practices we have in Kyrgyzstan has been the development of artificial glaciers. In Batken area, we have built seven artificial glaciers, which holds 1.5 million cubic meters of ice. This is a clear example of how we can have innovative, low-cost, simple measures taken to tackle this problem. and we have developed drought resilient vegetation as well to help us to ensure drought resilience. For Kyrgyzstan, sustainable pastoral land development is absolutely critical. Pastoral land is the basis of nomadic livestock farming and major source of income for pastoralists and is an important part of our ecosystems. Distinguished colleagues, The international agenda is very important to us. In October 2027 in Bishkek, we will carry out the second global summit for mountain regions, Bishkek plus 25. We very much hope that water saving.

I thank Kyrgyzstan for the statement. Next in the list is Chile, to be followed by Algeria. Please, Chile, you have the floor.

Thank you, President. As far as Chile is concerned, speaking about desertification means that we also need to speak about water. The two go hand in hand. Land degradation, drought, and water insecurity are all intrinsically linked to the same core challenge, one that affects our ecosystems, our food production, and above all, the life and resilience of our communities. Chile has experienced this reality firsthand. Our country has been the setting for a prolonged mega drought since 2010. At the same time, approximately 79% of the national territory today demonstrates evidence of land degradation or risk thereof. The reduction in the availability of surface and underground water is bringing growing pressure to bear on people, ecosystems, and productive activities. Confronted with this reality, rather than throwing up our hands, we are taking action. Our national anti-desertification, land degradation and drought action plan 2016 to 2030 serves to channel our efforts and in terms of land degradation neutrality. This goes hand in hand with our national land restoration plan, which duly recognizes land restoration as a vital tool for recovering the functionality of ecosystems and strengthening their resilience going forward. In terms of water or hydrological resources, for the first time in Chile, we have a specific climate change adaptation plan for water resources. The 10 measures and 35 actions within said plan are intended to strengthen water security in terms of human consumption, as well as to strengthen the conservation of ecosystems, sustainable productive activities and resilience in response to extreme events. These efforts are complemented by strategic water basin resource plans because we're firmly persuaded that water needs to be managed at the territorial level on the basis of freely available scientific information, participation and holistic vision and understanding of water basins. President, we will not be able to achieve land degradation neutrality absent water security. And we cannot guarantee water security if our soils, our ecosystems, our wetlands and our water basins continue to degrade. For all of these reasons, Chile calls for us to place the nexus between land and water at the heart and center of our collective action, strengthening cooperation, scientific knowledge and implementation means. Protecting land means also protecting water and protecting both together means protecting and preserving the future of our communities. Thank you very much.

I thank Chile for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Algeria to be followed by Togo. Algeria, you have the floor.

Thank you, President. Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, first of all, I wish to thank you for the very pertinent choice of title for our meeting today, that is combating drought. Drought is ever more of a threat for the human beings. in our countries and for the environment in general. Given our geographical situation between the Mediterranean Sea and the desert area, suffers in an increasingly serious manner on the impact of climate change. We have seen extremely serious episodes of drought, which have made a contribution to land degradation. We are very much aware of the fact that combating this phenomenon in an effective manner requires us to adopt an approach based on anticipation, and it must be a global comprehensive approach. We must not just react to crises once they occur on a one-off basis. On the contrary, we must make sure to act in a preventive manner. This is why Algeria has adopted a long-term programme. We have classified drought as a priority for us, and it is at the heart of our national action plan to combat climate change. Drought is part of a coordinated plan based on the sustainable management of water and land resources. Algeria has invested widely in desalination efforts so that we can guarantee that more than 41 percent of the drinking water needs of our population are covered by salination initiative desalination initiatives and we have used this water well we pay great attention to the input of the private sector and investing in technology to bolster resilience, we have launched a national investment strategy in water to mobilize national and international capacity so that we can find technological solutions in the long term. We are confident that Drought resilience cannot only be an isolated national priority, it must be part of an international cooperation plan. This is why Algeria calls for the adoption of an international instrument, which is an ambitious one, to enable us to face up to the threat of drought and guarantee food security as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Algeria, for the statement. I now give the floor to Togo, to be followed by Hungary. Togo, you have the floor.

Your Excellencies, ministers, distinguished participants, it is time to say things clearly. Given the urgent situation we find ourselves in, drought is not something which just happens due to different changes in the climate. It is something which is an injustice. In Africa, we are seeing that we are paying very high prices. In Togo, 23% of our land is showing that it is degraded, signs of degradation, and 42% of our population lives in high-risk areas. Given this, Togo has moved from reactive crisis management to more proactive risk reduction, basing itself on three pillars. Firstly, warnings and urgent measures. We have operationalized our national drought plan together with the National Food Security Agency and increased access to drinking water to 72%. Second pillar, land restoration. Since 2021, we have been implementing an ambitious tree planting initiative to plant a billion trees by 2030 and to restore 1.4 million hectares of land. Three, sustainable adaptation. We are promoting the agricultural and forestry sectors, integrating solar irrigation, and we're making sure that we reduce our emissions by more than 50% by 2030. We've modernized our legal framework and worked with public-private partnerships. We have the political will to work on this matter without resources, however, we call formally for a binding global agreement on drought so that we can help vulnerable countries. We must make sure that we move from lip services to commitments being respected. We reassert our complete commitment to making drought resilience a pillar of our future. This is not an option, this is a requirement today, and it is a justice and survival. Thank you.

Thank you very much, Togo, for the statement. I now give the floor to Hungary, to be followed by Mexico. Hungary, you have the floor.

Thank you very much, Mr. President, and also thank you to Mongolia for hosting us here in Ulaanbaatar and to all our partners for this fruitful discussion. Excellencies, distinguished ministers, ladies and gentlemen, due to its close geographical position, the climate of the Carpathian Basin is particularly vulnerable to climate change. With a 1.52 degree raise in the annual average temperature, Hungary is among the countries where heat waves and permanent droughts are becoming increasingly challenging. The current situation is particularly concerning as two thirds of the country is experiencing severe drought with impact extending far beyond agriculture. As water levels of major rivers and lakes are record low, Drought has serious impacts of river transport, energy supply, industry, ecosystems and public water services as well. The multitude and complexity of problems related to drought demonstrate that preventive and adaptive measures should be implemented in parallel and with the horizontal integration of these measures into all relevant sectors. Instead of reactive crisis management, we urgently need to strengthen prevention, preparedness and long-term resilience. In line with the objectives of the UNCCD, Hungary is implementing extensive drought monitoring and early warning based on reliable national data collection enabling timely decisions and targeted action. Particular emphasis is placed on enhancing water retention within natural landscapes, The Water to Landscape program promotes landscape scale water retention and ecological replenishment, including the restoration of wetlands as well as retention of surplus water during periods of abundance for utilization during periods of scarcity. The primary goal of agriculture now is not necessarily to achieve the highest possible crop yield, but rather to ensure production security. There may be need for crops and cultivation systems that can guarantee acceptable and predictable revenue per hectare, even amid increasingly extreme weather conditions. Regenerative agriculture practices, precision irrigation, drought-resistant crop varieties are promoted as effective climate adaptation measures contributing to long-term food security. Drought requires a shared response. We must move from reacting to drought towards preventing its impacts, from losing water towards retaining it, and from vulnerability towards resilience. International cooperation is crucial in this shift. For Hungary, a concerted and decisive action against drought is not a question anymore, but a fundamental national interest. We are committed to contribute to international efforts through research, practical action, cross-sector cooperation and exchanging good practices. Thank you for your attention.

I thank the distinguished representative of Hungary. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Mexico to be followed by Syrian Arab Republic. Mexico, you have the floor.

Thank you, President, delegates. Drought is one of the most widespread and complex challenges of our times. Its impacts cut across borders and sectors, adversely impacting water and food security, degrading land and ecosystems, negatively affecting rural livelihoods and triggering spiraling social and economic costs. These impacts are borne, moreover, disproportionately by the most vulnerable regions and populations in our countries. Mexico has firsthand experience of this reality. Around 65% of our land comprises arid, semi-arid, and dry sub-humid zones. Around the stream today, we've heard emerging consensus about drought management, or the model thereof, needs to shift from reaction after the event to upstream anticipation and building resilience before the impacts of drought morph into full-scale emergencies. Science and information are also indispensable tools in this effort. Mexico has significant experience in this area via the Mexican drought monitoring system and via our participation in the North American drought monitoring system in which we participate together with Canada and the USA. This experience has underscored the value of regional cooperation, monitoring and the timely exchange of information. We've also been following with close interest the development of the International Drought Resilience Observatory, spearheaded by the International Drought Resilience Alliance. And we are of the view that said observatory or IDRO could facilitate the exchange of methodologies and capacity building as long as we ensure that the tool is interoperable with existing national platforms and as long as we ensure that Nationally validated data are not substituted by international estimates. We must also ensure that the observatory does not lead to new reporting burdens. Resilience also requires means of implementation that are commensurate with the scale of the challenge. Mexico also has concrete experience in this sphere. Our national environmental restoration program, 2025 to 2030, includes mechanisms such as an obligation to earmark 3.5% of the amount invested in infrastructure projects into restoration and environmental offsetting measures. We also have green bonds and carbon vouchers. Our environmental service payment scheme, extended to include, in 2025 alone, an additional 100,000 hectares of forest ecosystem via 1,590 different projects that were down to the benefit of 420 shared land owners and communities. My final point, the scale of the challenge that we are confronted requires full disciplined program alignment between the Rio Conventions, the Sendai Disaster Risk Reduction Framework and other analogous processes such as the United Nations Water Conference. Thank you very much indeed, President.

Thank you, Mexico, for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to be followed by Republic of Korea. Syrian Arab Republic, you have the floor.

Thank you, President.

First and foremost, allow me to thank the government of Mongolia and the Secretariat of the UNCCD for the excellent welcome we have received here. Ladies and gentlemen, the Middle East is a region that we belong to as a Syrian Arab Republic and it is an arid zone, an arid zone threatened by drought. From 2024 to 2025, we saw a severe drought, one we had not seen in that severity for 70 years. And we saw a record drop in precipitation, drought has accelerated desertification. It has also sparked forest fires. Syria is facing climate events which compounded by the effects of the war which we underwent. This is an emergency. We need to move from reaction to prevention and anticipation, preparation. We have placed the greatest importance on resilience to drought. For example, we have integrated combating drought into our national plan to achieve the SDGs, to achieve food security and to protect vulnerable categories. Following the unprecedented drought that we saw in 2024-2025, we launched an early warning system, which is the key for our national strategy for long-term management of drought. plan aims to equip Syria with the necessary tools to combat drought that will allow us to have measures and interventions based on natural solutions for drought resilience. And we're working on this together with FAO. We very much appreciate the support of UNCCD in our efforts. and from our partner international organizations. We very much hope we will receive further assistance and support, in particular once the Syrian government has announced its priorities under its next plan, in particular as concerns combating drought.

Thank you, Syrian Arab Republic, for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Republic of Korea, to be followed by Portugal. Republic of Korea, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair.

I would like to begin by expressing my sincere appreciation to the UNCCD Secretary and the Government of Mongolia for organizing this dialogue. As climate change continues to increase the frequency.

And intensity of extreme droughts, the risk to food security and water resources are becoming increasingly serious. According to a United Nations report, if the global.

Average temperature rises by three degrees Celsius by 2100, economic losses caused by drought could increase fivefold from current levels. These predictions are already becoming a reality.

This summer, many parts of Europe.

Have experienced extreme heat and increasing dry conditions, contributing to severe drought impact, including wildfires.

The Republic of Korea has made sustained efforts to address desertification and drought, which can lead to serious natural disasters. Launched in 2012, the Changwon Initiative has played an important role in advancing the concept of land degradation neutrality and promoting its application at the international level.

With regard to drought, the Republic of Korea was provided US$220,000 in 2019 through the Changwon Initiative in support of a drought initiative in Southern Africa. This contribution helped lay the groundwork for identifying practical solutions tailored to local conditions.

To effectively address drought, adequate finance must be accompanied by stronger international cooperation and stronger political commitment.

At the same time, we need to continue exploring innovative approaches to financing, including the mobilization of private sector resources. Partnerships with the private sector can also make an important contribution to strengthening drought resilience.

The business program launched at UNCCD COP15 has.

Opened new opportunities for businesses to contribute to efforts to address drought and desertification as part of their ESG commitments.

I believe UNCC has an increasingly important role to play in developing this initiative into concrete and practical program that can deliver results on the ground.

Drought is not simply an environmental challenge. It is directly linked to global food security, water resources, and ultimately human survival. We must address these challenges through.

Nature-based solutions, including red restoration and sustainable policy management.

The government of Republic Korea will continue to work closer with the UNCCD.

And contribute to strengthening drought resilience around the world. Thank you.

I thank Republic of Korea for the statement. I now give the floor to Portugal. to be followed by Italy and Guatemala. Portugal, you have the floor.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates, it is an honor to address this plenary on behalf of the Minister of Environment and Energy of Portugal, Maria de Gracia Carvalho. Over the last decades, Portugal has faced more frequent and severe periods of water scarcity and drought. The impacts have been serious, mainly in the southern regions of the country. The most recent drought occurred in 24 and 25. In July and August 25, over 67 of Portugal faced mild to moderate drought conditions. This situation required strong coordination and solidarity at regional and national levels to manage scarce water resources as efficiently as possible. It also shows us that we need better water governance, stronger coordination and monitoring, and more investment to improve our resilience. In response, Portugal has strengthened its approach to water management. In 2025, the Portuguese government presented national strategy for water management, Agu que une, or water that unites in English. This strategy reflects our national commitment to water resilience and environmental sustainability. It was also the result of a broad public consultation involving different sectors and stakeholders. Its priorities include improving water efficiency, promoting responsible use of water, and reducing water losses in sectors such as public supply, agriculture, and tourism. The strategy includes a total investment of 5 billion euros by 2030, of which around 2 billion euros have already been secured. This is an important step in Portugal's commitment to water and climate resilience. It is also fully aligned with the European Water Resilience Strategy. Cooperation with our neighbours is equally important. Portugal shares five river basins with Spain. We therefore know how important cooperation is in times of drought, but also in times of flooding, as we saw during the storms of this winter of 2026. This is why the Water Day of COP17 is so important. It is an opportunity to strengthen the link between water, land and drought resilience, and to promote better coordination across policies and institutions. Looking ahead to the 2026 UN Water Conference, Portugal believes that water scarcity and drought must remain at the center of our common efforts. Water security, resilient land, and healthy ecosystems depend on each other. We must address them together through better governance, investment, and international cooperation to build more resilient territories and a sustainable future for all. By 2030, we expect Portugal to be a more water efficient and resilient country with better management of its water resources and better prepared for drought. Many countries face similar challenges. That is why we are committed to working together and finding common solutions. Thank you.

I thank Portugal for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Italy.

Excellencies, colleagues, drought is no longer an exceptional phenomenon. It has become a structural challenge affecting all continents with growing impacts on food security, water availability, ecosystem health, economic stability and the well-being of communities. Italy and Europe are also experiencing these effects with increasing intensity. In the Mediterranean, rising temperatures, water scarcity and land degradation are mutually reinforcing, further increasing the vulnerability of our territories. This is why we need to move beyond emergency-based responses and adopt approaches grounded in prevention, planning and the resilience of communities and ecosystems. These approaches must be based on the best available scientific knowledge and reflect the strong interconnection between the different phenomena and the impacts at stake. At national level, we need an effective and workable governance framework, one that allows action to be planned at basin scale and clearly defines the responsibilities of public authorities, the private sector and financial institutions. Such a framework must involve all stakeholders, including the different categories of users, strengthen the role of local communities and integrate the needs of all relevant sectors, from budget and transport to energy, agriculture and finance. We must also support measures to diversify water supply sources, including innovative, unconventional and alternative solutions for water retention and reuse, desalinization and rainwater harvesting. At the same time, it is essential to promote nature-based solutions restore the ability of soils to retain water, protect natural ecosystems and support sustainable agricultural practices. Effective decisions require reliable data, increasingly accurate forecasting systems and close cooperation between scientific institutions, public authorities and local communities. Strengthening monitoring, observation and early warning tools is therefore essential, as we are also doing in Italy. Looking at the negotiations at this COP, we believe it is essential to build a broad and inclusive consensus around the elements that unite the parties, strengthening proactive drought management, supporting the development and implementation of national plans, including through innovative and unconventional means.

I thank the distinguished representative of Italy. I now give the floor to Guatemala, to be followed by Kiribati and Iraq. Guatemala, you have the floor.

Thank you, Mr. President. I will do my intervention in Spanish.

Excellency, distinguished delegates, for Guatemala, a country which is highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change, whenever we speak about water, then we're implicitly also speaking about adaptation, resilience, and land. Our experience demonstrates an apparent paradox. Guatemala does have abundant natural water resources available, but said resources are not distributed uniformly across the country, nor are they uniformly available throughout the year. Where some regions have sizeable water resources, others are confronted with limited availability and greater vulnerability to drought. This vulnerability can be all the more acute when exposed to climate variability phenomena such as El Nino, linked to shifts in rainfall patterns and prolonged periods of drought. Against a backdrop of increasing temperatures, these conditions can intensify water stress, reduce soil moisture levels and increase pressure on ecosystems and productive systems. And it's for this reasons that we need to understand that the challenge is not just about how much water we have, but rather where and when this water is available, how we manage it and our capacity to conserve said water, store it and make it available to the people and ecosystems that depend thereon. As we are confronted with ever more complex drought patterns, we cannot carry out water management on an isolated or solid basis. We need a holistic integrated approach that connects water basins, soils, ecosystems, climate and persons. Guatemala is strengthening an integrated water resource management approach via basin level planning, the protection of aquifer recharge zones and the restoration of ecosystems, linking these actions to climate change adaptation measures on disaster risk reduction measures. But we have learned that infrastructure without governance is not synonymous with resilience. Since 2025, Guatemala means spearheading a national water process, a participatory approach, in order to bring us closer towards a water law initiative that's on the table. Alongside this, we've been making progress in the crafting of a national water resource policy, strengthening coordination at the institutional and land levels. This governance needs to be inclusive. Women, indigenous peoples, and local communities are not just beneficiaries. Their knowledge, their experience, and their participation are vital if we're to build water resilience. pure excellencies drought obliges us to change our mindset we cannot hope uh to see uh resilience beginning with the lack of water we need to act well upstream of that we need to invest before the crisis in our basins and ecosystems and infrastructure information and institutions and first and foremost in people and communities particularly those who most vulnerable to drought because properly managing water today means guaranteeing our capacity to adapt tomorrow thank you very much

Guatemala I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kiribati. Kiribati, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair, Your Excellencies, and distinguished delegates. Warm greetings from Kiribati. At the outset, Kiribati thanks the convening on the people of Mongolia for their warm hospitality and the secretariat for making this dialogue possible. Your Excellency, Kiribati is on the front line of climate change. A low-lying atoll nation, merely three meters above sea level, with no rivers, lakes, and mountains to store water. Every drop we depend on comes from a thin underground freshwater lens, highly dependent on minimal rainwater recharge, which is easily depleted by drought and contaminated by saltwater intrusion and rising seas. For frontline nations like ours, drought is not a seasonal inconvenience. It is an existential risk. When are we not driving drought strike, water quality deteriorated rapidly, facing food security, public health, livelihood under direct threat. While our narrow dispersed islands leave communities with little room to move or share what water remains. In June, 2022, Kiribati declared a national state of disaster due to drought. That declaration mobilized vital international support and prove a critical point. Time being international cooperation is not optional for at all states. It is a lifeline. Excellencies, give us a national drought committee to monitor water availability, assess risk and figure every response. Our experience is a clear lesson. Understanding the drought is no longer challenge. The challenge is having capacity and resources to work before a risk strike. call on this convention and the international community to strengthen support for drought resilience in NATO states, to stronger drought monitoring and early warning capacity, resilient NATO appropriate water security infrastructure, capacity building for restoration and to present degraded lands, improve access to science, data and technology, support for drought resilient food production, and timely, predictable, accessible financing for preparedness and recovery. As a frontline state, Kiribati urges the Convention to recognize that atoll states face fundamentally different challenges from continental dry land. Solutions must be built for our scale, geography and equality. We have to see the institution and commitment. What we need is a timely sustained support to change commitment into action. Because for people on the front line of this crisis, trust resilience is a matter of survival. Thank you very much, Chair.

Thank you, Kiribati. I now give the floor to Iraq, to be followed by Panama and Zambia. Iraq, you have the floor.

Mr. President, Your Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, drought today represents one of the most significant environmental and development challenges facing Iraq. The decline in water resources has direct impacts on agricultural lands, vegetation cover, biodiversity, and the increasing frequency of sand and dust storms. Iraq relies primarily on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which makes the sustainable management of water resources and enhancing the efficiency of their use as national priority closely linked to combating desertification and achieving food security. Iraq emphasized that addressing drought requires strengthening regional cooperation and the management of shared water resources alongside investment in early warning systems. The development of monitoring system and the exchange of data and expertise contributing to enhancing the capacity to adapt to the impact of climate change. Iraq also continues to implement its national programs within the framework of United Nations Convention to combat desertification through supporting sustainable land management, monitoring land degradation and enhancing the use of scientific data in planning and decision making. Iraq believes that strengthening international cooperation, technology transfer, capacity building, and support for national initiatives represent the optimal path towards enhancing resilience to drought, protecting natural resources, and achieving sustainable development. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of Iraq. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Panama. Panama.

Mr. President, Executive Secretary, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, Panama thanks the Mongolian presidency for the hospitality and for organizing this event. We believe that our responsibility is to find a pathway that allow this COP to deliver meaningful outcomes for the millions of people who lives and livelihoods depend on a healthy and resilient land. Land degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss are not separate realities in our territories. For Panama, it is particularly important. Panama has developed its Nature Pledge, a national framework designed to bring together the country's commitments under the three Rio Conventions around a common vision and supports the implementation and monitoring of interconnected objectives on climate change, biodiversity, and land degradation. Through this experience, Benin seeks to demonstrate that the national frameworks can help translate the synergies into coordinated country-led actions. We encourage other parties to consider taking similar approaches adapted to their own national circumstances. Furthermore, we underscore that implementation must be inclusive, right-based, and gender-responsive. Indigenous people, local communities, women, youth, smallholder farmers, and other land stewards must not be treated simply as beneficiaries of restoration. They are right holders, knowledge holders, and leaders of implementation. We also believe that we must protect institutionality continuity. Where issues cannot be resolved at this session, we should ensure that there are clear and legal certain pathway for certain consideration at COP18. In this regard, Panama is ready to work constructively with this presidency, regional groups and all interested parties on bridging solutions that first, preserve the systems of existing COP decision, second, strengthen cooperation across the three Rio conventions, third, advance meaningful participation of indigenous people and gender responsiveness implementation and Ford established that clear pathway for unresolved matters to be taken forward at COP 18. Excellency, the success of COP 6 should be measured by whether we leave a lambertor with greater cooperation, strong implementation and renewed confidence that multilateralism can deliver for people and for the land of which we all depend. But I mustn't ready to be part of solution. Thank you.

Thank you, Panama, for the statement. Next in the list is Zambia, followed by European Union and Nepal. Zambia, you have the floor.

Thank you, facilitator. Zambia would like to extend our great thanks to the government of Mongolia for their warm hospitality since we arrived in this country. Drought is one of the most persistent challenges Zambia has been facing. It has continued to threaten food and water security, energy generation, ecosystems, public health, economic stability, and sustainable development. This is worsened by most of our unsustainable production and consumption patterns in our key economic sectors such as agriculture, mining, forestry, tourism, resulting in western effects of drought affecting millions of people. livestock and wildlife. Zambia has integrated drought resilience into our national development processes, land restoration, food and water security, climate adaptation, biodiversity conservation and sustainable livelihoods. The government has continued to undertake disaster risk assessments, establish emergency operation centers, community-based disaster risk management programs, and post-disaster recovery activities for resilience building. However, despite our national efforts in responding to drought, the country falls short in various ways, including the following. One, limited and inadequate financial resources for early warning infrastructure. Two, limited science and technology for preparedness, response and resilience. And three, limited human capacity for preparedness and response. Therefore, facilitator, Zambia is calling upon COP17 to advocate for a global framework that will include the following requirements. One, identify practical approaches to strengthen drought governance, two, identify partnerships and investment and shift from reactive response to proactive risk reduction and resilience, and three, provide adequate and sustainable financing. I thank you for your kind attention.

I thank Zambia for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of European Union.

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, drought is no longer an episodic or localized concern. It has become a defining challenge for all countries. In the view of the European Union, strengthening drought resilience is a central component of sustainable development, climate adaptation, and land restoration. We must collectively shift from a predominantly reactive approach to a proactive approach, one that prioritizes prevention and preparedness, looks ahead, is rooted in a green recovery, and focused on building resilience over the longer term. This calls first for stronger drought governance. Drought cannot be addressed in isolation. In this regard, a whole of government and whole of society systemic approach is essential, with particular attention to those most affected, including women, youth, indigenous peoples, local communities, farmers, and pastoralists. Second, we need to invest in resilience before disaster strikes. Early warning systems, monitoring and predicting drought and its risks, sustainable land and water management, ecosystem restoration and climate smart agriculture represent some of the most effective investments we can make. Third, science and international cooperations are indispensable. This is why we were to support the International Drought Resilience Alliance and its efforts on drought resilience and support the UN Environment Program in the development of a drought resilience capacity index as a first step to bridge still existing knowledge gaps that in the long term may help to enhance policy making and monitoring. The European Union remains firmly committed to supporting ambitious action under the UNCCD. Let us work together for strong action on drought at COP17. a shift from drought response to drought resilience, from fragmentation to cooperation, and from short-term emergency measures to long-term security, prosperity and sustainability. I thank you.

Thank you, European Union. Next in the list is Nepal, followed by Vietnam and Guinea. Nepal, you have the floor.

Respected Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the government and people of Nepal, I sincerely thank UNCCD Secretary for its continued leadership and the government of Mongolia for hosting COP17 and for their hospitality. Drought is silent, disaster for Nepal every year 40% of total climate change induced loss in accumulate for drought this has multiple non accountable irreal losses in biodiversity resource base water Springs overall livelihood of the people. The frequency of the drought is increasing every year, cracks rice field of the lowland of the Rai of Nepal. Respected Chair, government of Nepal is working in multiple front of the create resilience against drought induces disaster. Increasing investment in irrigation infrastructure and increase water use efficiency, enhancing crop and livelihood. insurance program empowering communities to create locally enable safety net promote the drought smart cropping system water conservation and water is being reliable in the vulnerable area focusing restoration of indigenous water system and community managed ponds which historically act as buffer during the extreme dry period. We are promoting integrated approach to cope with this disaster. Nepal has abundant fresh water in Himalaya is the water tower. In spite of this abundance, water is scarce in different area and season. Abundance and scarcity should not together. We have opportunity to harness this abundant fresh water availability for dry season and area. This demands modern innovation, more investment, and technical cooperation to create resilience against drought. Respected Chair, drought will be the major disaster in coming years. We need better collaboration, friendly investment in technology generation, infrastructure development, and focus on vulnerable people in the area. The current investment in drought resilience creation is insufficient and complex. Respected Chair, in this ground, we need more productive

I thank the distinguished representative of Nepal. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of Vietnam.

Hello. Yes, Mr. President, honorable minister, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, On behalf of the delegation of Vietnam, I thank the government of Mongolia and UNCCD Secretariat for convening this very important dialogue on World Water Day. Drought is no longer a temporary event. It is a frequent crisis threatening water resources, food system, and billions of livelihoods worldwide. Shifting from emergency response to proactive integrated drought risk management is an urgent imperative.

Vietnam is several vulnerable to extreme drought and saltwater intrusion, especially across Mekong Delta and

Central Highland, South Central Coast in the response.

So in response, we have implemented some key solution.

The first, proactive drought governance.

We have enacted national drought action plan using the satellite monitoring and early warning system to deliver the timely forecast directly to farmer.

The second is natural water solutions.

We prioritize water forest, water set forest and coastal mangroves protecting water saving irrigation.

And we have a program to change the production protocol like low carbon

crop production program and low carbon program for some specific crop like

rice in the Mekong Delta to reduce input cost, reduce use of water for better environment. And the third is the community by center resilient. We empower smallholder farmer, woman and ethnic community through water saving livelihood model and public private community partnership. So droughts expect no borders. Vietnam call for collective international action in three area.

The first

strengthen international policy commitment and scenery.

Thank you, Vietnam, for the statement. Now comes Guinea, followed by Yemen and Kuwait. Guinea, you have the floor.

President, ladies and gentlemen, it is an honor for the Republic of Guinea to take the floor. During this water day organized in high level segment of COP 17, the topic bringing us together today is a key importance. Land and water are not distinct resources. They are indivisible components of the same environmental ecological system, economic and social system. There could be no water security without healthy land and no sustainable restoration of land without responsible water management given. more frequent droughts, we need to make sure that we address this crisis. Guinea is known as the water tower of Western Africa, and we have a responsibility at national and regional level. The high plateaus of water gelon feed many cross-border water basins that millions of people depend upon, but the degradation of land in these zones, for erosion, silting up of water courses, and disturbs water systems. The pressure with seeing means that we need to restore land, we need to act quickly. Given this urgent situation, our action must be based upon the following complementary priorities. Firstly, to restore land and to protect strategic spaces for water. Guinea has committed itself by 2030 to restore 375,000 hectares of degraded land with the prospect of neutrality for land degradation. Secondly, We need to make sure that we carry out prevention activities and have early warning for droughts. Thirdly, we need to install genuinely integrated management systems for land and water. We need to have farming, forest, pastoral, water, mining, energy, environmental policies which really converge around coherent planning for catchment areas. Fourthly, we need to place regional cooperation at the heart of our response because water knows no borders. River states, basin organizations, scientific institutions and communities must share data, prevent conflicts over water use and invest together in water resilience. Resilience to drought cannot just be an emergency response, it is long-term investment that we need. We need greater financing, more predictable financing which is more accessible for land restoration to protect watersheds, to invest in hydraulic infrastructure which is resilient and to invest in capacity building. We also need to see our farmers Women, young people, local communities, not only being beneficiaries, but being actors and stakeholders and fully fledged partners to implement the convention. The Republic of Guinea reasserts its determination to promote sustainable integrated management of its natural resources. Our course is clear. We must restore land to secure water. I thank you, Guinea.

Now I give the floor to Yemen.

Thank you, President. President, ladies and gentlemen, I wish to express my gratitude to the Government of Mongolia for their warm welcome. We thank them for their generous hospitality. We also thank the Secretariat of the UNCCD for organizing this meeting and, in particular, this dialogue on one of the most complex issues of our times. Climate change, drought, resilience, food security, water security are all vital interlinked activities and sectors. And drought affects a large part of our population. The impact of climate change is very clearly seen with an increase in cases of drought, with disruption to precipitation, and the recurrence of extreme weather events. and all this resulting in land degradation and a scarcity of water resources, we are faced with major challenges and we need to bolster our capacity to address these risks and these challenges. We must work on an international level to address the risks together. Combating desertification cannot only treat the symptom, we need to work to prevent drought, we need to invest in range lands and pastoral lands, in our forests, and the sustainable management of land. Ladies and gentlemen, we wish to underscore that financing is an essential key for success here. The most vulnerable and fragile countries, such as Yemen, do not suffer from a lack of political will. We suffer from a lack of resources, a lack of access to financing for climate and environment. I call upon the international community and all partners to step up financing for countries affected by drought, land degradation, and water scarcity, and to make sure that fragile countries can have enhanced access to financing. We have a project for degraded land and to reforestation and water management. have resilient systems. Combating desertification is a national priority, but also an international responsibility. As we respond to climate change and land degradation, this does not stop at the geographical borders of a country, so we must strengthen our cooperation under the United Nations Convention. We are ready to do so, to cooperate actively with all our partners, to mobilize resources, to implement programs which are up to meeting this challenge. We are committed to working with the international community to achieve the objectives of the convention to address land degradation, climate change and drought to create a greener, more fair and just world.

Thank you, Yemen, for the statement. Now, I'm going to give the floor to the distinguished representative of Kuwait. With Kuwait, we're going to conclude the list of states parties wishing to speak at this session. And we will continue with the list of observers. The list will start with Food and Agriculture Organization. Now Kuwait, you have the floor.

Mr. President, Your Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, the state of Kuwait would like to thank Mongolia, the friendly state of Mongolia, for the excellent hospitality and the great hosting of COP17. We would like also to thank the Secretariat for its efforts to support international effort to address drought, land degradation, and desertification. We hope that this conference that comes under the slogan, restoring lands, restoring hope to translate our commitment, joint commitment into concrete action. Water. Security is highly important, particularly in the desert landscapes and dry environments, given the fact that Kuwait has very limited natural water resources. Kuwait, for decades, has developed strategies to manage its water resources through an integrated system that is based on the salination of sea water. upgrading infrastructure, employing advanced water treatment technology, in addition to using wastewater inappropriately. Kuwait has entrenched that the fact that addressing drought must happen in advance through increasing the flexibility and resilience of infrastructure. The state of Kuwait is ranking high in this respect. It comes as the first country, first Arab country and the sixth world country when it comes to drinking water quality. We believe that restoring degraded land, particularly in dry lands, must take into consideration the available water resources in order to achieve long-standing results in this respect. We call for stronger international cooperation in monitoring early warning and exchange of technology and experience in addition to providing sustainable financial solutions so that the country is concerned will be able to apply solutions based on its needs and specificities. We need to move, ladies and gentlemen, from action, from reaction to protection and prevention. We reaffirm that we will continue cooperating with the United Nations and the states parties, as well as the other partners, in order to realize, to strengthen efforts aimed at addressing desertification and building resilience to drought. In conclusion, we would like to renew our thanks to all the parties concerned. We hope that COP17 will come up with effective partnerships in order to build more resilient and sustainable future for the present and future generations. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative. To the distinguished representative of Food and Agriculture Organization.

Your Excellencies, We do not have to look far into the future to understand the urgency of this discussion. El Nino is already putting agriculture on alert. FAO's latest analysis show heightened agriculture drought risks across many regions of the world. In some crop and pasture areas, the probability of drought exceeded 50%, and we already know what can follow. The last El Nino brought the South African region its worst drought in more than a century. Crop fields, pasture destroyed, livestock came under severe pressure, 61 million people needed assistance. Different regions and different agricultural systems, but the progression is remarkably consistent. Water stress becomes production loss, and production loss can quickly become a food security crisis. But there's another reason El Nino matters to this discussion, and we can see it coming. FAO is using more than 40 years of satellite data to identify where crops and pasture are mostly vulnerable to agricultural drought before the full consequences are felt. So our challenge is no longer simply to understand drought. It is to act while there's still something to protect. For FAO, that means three things. Prepare, scale, and finance. First, prepare. Early warning must lead to early action, protecting water resources, crops, livestock, and the productive assets farmers and pastoralists depend upon. Second skill, we know many of the solutions through FAO's drought program working with the UNCCD and the global environment facility, more than 40 countries have moved from national drought plans towards priority actions and investment priorities. The task now is to move from plans to implementation and from individual projects to approaches that can operate at scale. Third, finance before the loss. We still spend too much on drought response, but too little on prevention. Good chairs. I feel pleased to join the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership because this is exactly the transition we need. from warning to action, from plans to investment, and from responding to losses to preventing them. Future droughts are inevitable. Future drought disasters are not. The difference is whether we act and invest before the next harvest is lost. I thank you.

Thank you, FAO, for the statement. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development on behalf of civil society organizations.

Good afternoon, excellencies, ministers, distinguished delegates. Civil society organizations welcome the recognition of drought resilience as a political and development priority. For 1.3 billion people relying on agriculture, drought is increasingly a structural reality shaped by climate change, land degradation, biodiversity loss, water insecurity, and unsustainable development. Drought puts agriculture production, food security, livelihoods, and peace at risk. We urge governments and partners to move decisively from a paradigm of reactive drought management to a proactive one based on anticipation, prevention, resilience and transformation. We therefore call for a fundamental shift in how drought resilience is designed, financed and implemented. In doing so, we request parties to invest directly with us, indigenous peoples, local communities, smallholder family farmers, pastoralists, women, youth and civil society organizations in innovating and scaling out community-led agroecology and ecosystem-based drought resilience. We practice soil and water conservation, agroforestry, grazing systems, participatory breeding and exchange of drought tolerant seeds amongst others. Financing the scaling out and further innovations of these practices will result in land restoration and long-term drought resilience. Direct drought finance to local action. Drought finance must directly reach us, invest in us who live with drought, protect the ecosystems, buffer its impacts, and strengthen the institutions that sustain resilience. Secondly, it is crucial to put resilience, rights, and equity at the center of drought governance. Policies must secure our rights and equitable access to resources, lands, waters and forests, include us in decision making and reduce our vulnerabilities. We should be recognized as rights and knowledge holders and as co-creators of solutions. Finally, it is relevant to strengthen early warning with early action, including anticipatory finance, locally defined response mechanisms, and community decision making. Thank you for your attention.

I thank Asian Farmers Association for Sustainable Rural Development for the statement delivered on behalf of the civil society organizations. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of International Organization for Migration.

Thank you very much and good afternoon, Excellencies and distinguished delegates.

IOM welcomes this ministerial dialogue on drought and resilience and the recognition of the impacts of drought on human mobility.

Across the world, environmental pressures, including frequent and severe droughts, are eroding livelihoods and increasing pressure on people and ecosystems.

As conditions deteriorate, the number of people who face difficult choices about whether to move or stay is growing.

For some people, migration can provide new opportunities and become part of an adaptation strategy. For others, the priority is to have the conditions, services, and livelihoods that allow them to remain safely and sustainably in their communities. To better address these linkages, IOM is supporting Member States to integrate human mobility considerations into national drought frameworks and related planning instruments. But beyond this, we are supporting governments in translating policy commitments into innovative solutions, investment-ready programs, and partnerships that reduce displacement risk, strengthen resilience, and unlock sustainable development. Through our risk index for climate displacement and climate mobility innovation labs, we are identifying areas where people are most at risk of displacement in the context of drought and desertification. We are then using these insights to mobilize catalytic funding to support locally led adaptation solutions. IOM stands ready to continue working with member states, partner organizations, and affected communities to scale solutions, mobilize investment, and strengthen resilience and adaptation to drought where it matters most.

Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of IOM And now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the United Nations Children's Fund.

Excellencies, ministers, colleagues, thank you for this opportunity. As we strengthen drought resilience, UNICEF would like to bring one simple perspective to this discussion. What drought means for families and their children in member states. For children, the effects of drought can be immediate and interconnected. This is why it is important that children and youth are distinct groups with different needs. Drought can affect the food they eat and the water they drink. It can increase risks to nutrition and health, disrupt education, and put additional pressure on families and communities. For UNICEF, this means three practical things. First, we have to understand the impact. Wherever possible, drought assessments and monitoring should help us understand how families and children of different ages are being affected. Second, protect the services that families rely on. Water and sanitation, nutrition, health, education, and protection services need to be able to continue reaching citizens, including children, and everyone living in Member States, during periods of drought. Third, invest in resilience before a crisis occurs. Strengthening public services that Member States deliver, including water systems, schools, health facilities, social protection, and other essential services, can help communities withstand drought while protecting their well-being and development. UNICEF stands ready to work with governments, UNCCD partners and civil society, bringing our data, technical expertise and country level experience to support these efforts. Our message is simple. When we build drought resilience, we need to make sure that resilience reaches children too. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of UNICEF. I now invite the distinguished representative of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus to deliver its statement, please.

Good afternoon, Madame la Secretaire Executif.

Executive.

Secretary, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, we, the Indigenous Peoples, traditional guardians of the land, address this assembly while our lands are grappling with an existential crisis. Drought is no longer a seasonal risk, it has become the permanent reality. Severe drought repeatedly has dried up vital sources of water, devastating pastoral rangelands, and threatening the survival of our cultures and our livelihoods. The theme of this conference is restoring land, restoring hope. We need to recognize that hope is based on access to water, the health of the land, security and preservation of our ways of life. Our pastoral communities are in the front line given this climate emergency. Indigenous pastoralism is a system which is highly adapted and based on knowledge. It ensures sustainable management of land given seasonable mobility and To ensure our survival and that of our lands, we need fundamental change with full, effective and legally guaranteed inclusion. This is vital. All parties need to guarantee that indigenous peoples and pastoral communities are fully involved on an equal footing as fully fledged partners from the start of the process in co-design and implementation in the field of all national plans to combat drought. During COP17, the caucus of indigenous peoples is calling on parties to enshrine and implement as legally binding commitments the following three points. One, to design and implement measures in an inclusive manner. Two, to have adaptation based on ecosystems. And three, to have access to new financing mechanisms. We need a legally binding provision so that land can be restored. This is vital for our dignity and security. Pastoral communities and indigenous peoples believe that restoring land is restoring water, restoring water is restoring hope, restoring hope is the guarantee for our future.

Thank you, the Indigenous Peoples Caucus. I now invite the distinguished representative of the United Nations Development Program to the floor, please. Thank you.

Thank you so much, distinguished ministers, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. As we gather in Ulaanbaatar under the theme of restoring land, restoring hope, we do so as a decisive moment for the world dry land, rangeland, food system, water security, and communities on the frontline of climate change. drought and water scarcity no longer isolated environmental challenges. They are systemic development risk. Climate change is intensifying drought while unsustainable land and water management is increasing vulnerability. Already around 80% of the impact of climate change are water related. In the world marked by growing pressure on trade, food systems, value chain, drought can quickly undermine development gains, deepen poverty, drive displacement, and fuel instability where resources are already under stress. The question before us is therefore not simply how we respond to the drought, but how we anticipate, prepare for, and prevent its worst impact. For UNDP, drought resilience is central to climate change adaptation and sustainable development. It means addressing structural causes of vulnerability through integrated action on land, water and ecosystem, livelihood risk management, while we ensure people and communities remain at the center of the solutions. UNDP is working with the governments. the GCF, JF Adaptation Fund, multilateral development banks and bilateral partners to advance policies, financing and practical solution on the ground. In Malawi, for example, with JF LDCF support, UNDP is helping vulnerable communities, strengthening drought resilience through ecosystem based adaptation, climate resilient livelihoods and stronger local value chain. In Sudan, another example, through GCF resources, UNDP has supported the restoring the degraded rangelands, improve access to water, strengthen local systems for managing natural resources while promoting cooperation and stability. One key lesson that stand out clearly, drought resilience cannot be financed or addressed in silos. Drought sits at the center, at the intersection of climate change, biodiversity, water, food systems, energy and livelihood. Integrated solutions not only deliver greater impact, they also create opportunities to mobilize and align financing at scale. Since 2016 in Riyadh, UNDP has worked closely with partners, including UNCCD, to advance the agenda through the Riyadh Global Drought Resilience Partnership.

Thank you UNDP for the statement. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of International Water Management Institute.

Excellencies, distinguished delegates and colleagues, thank you for the opportunity to speak on behalf of the International Water Management Institute at this important dialogue. Drought at its core is a water phenomenon. It is what happens when the full water cycle, not only rainfall, but soil moisture, groundwater recharge, and green water held in our landscape break down. As climate variability intensifies, with sharper swings between wet and dry conditions, water is increasingly variable that it might whether a dry spell becomes a humanitarian and economic crisis. Water security is fundamental to lasting drought resilience, Drought resilience requires an integrated understanding of how land and water system interact from water availability and soil moisture to groundwater ecosystem and livelihood. By placing water at the heart of the land restoration and drought early warning, we can move beyond short-term responses towards solutions that are resilient, sustainable, and capable of withstanding increasing climate variability. We believe the knowledge and solution to act on this already exist. What often is missing a way to bring them together and put them into the hands of governments and communities who need them most. This is the thinking behind the Drought Action Catalyst and Initiative, IMI is proud to lead together with CGIAR and then the other broader network of partners launched at the UNCCD COP16 to support drought action on the ground over the coming decade. At the heart of the catalyst is a water initiative. It draws on water monitoring and early warning, water informed vulnerability assessment and water center prepared and responses with the right side of the funding of financing available so that the communities are not impacted on that one and how to minimize the impact through that one the sustainability measures. Beyond this initiative, EME broader role is to help countries make sense of water data that they already hold alongside the land and climate information it must connect to. This information is often too scattered across systems that were never designed to work together. Countries do not necessarily need more information rather than need the information that they already have to speak to each other and importantly to inform the scene. Our team worked together alongside with the national institution to turn fragmented water data into evidence that is generally usable for drought preparedness planning and for land degradation neutrality target and for the reporting commitment many of you carry under this evidence. We see this convention as a center to placing water where it belongs into the drought agenda and remain committed to supporting it. If the drought is where failure across water, land and climate become visible, then water security must be where resilience begins. Our task is now to move from responding to drought for the happens to managing the water, land and risk before crisis hold. AMI is committed for this cause.

I thank the distinguished representative of International Water Management Institute. I now give the floor to the distinguished representative of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries.

Co-chair, excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen, the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries welcomes the emphasis on moving from drought response to drought resilience. For producing countries, is not only on environmental threat. It affects food production, rural incomes, water security and stability of entire agriculture value chains. Palm oil support millions of livelihoods, including many smallholders. Although oil palm is generally grown in humid tropical areas, these landscapes face increasing rainfall variability, heat and water stress. Extended dry periods can reduce productivity and incomes, heighten land fire risk and place greater pressure on soil and water. CPUPC offers three considerations. First, Translate early warning into early action. Climate and drought information has value only when it becomes timely advice that farmers, cooperatives and local authorities can use for water management, fire prevention, agronomic planning and livelihood protection. Build on national sustainability schemes to strengthen drought resilience, effective implementation of Indonesian and Malaysian sustainable palm oil, named ISPO and MSPO, provision on soil and water conservation, responsible land management and fire prevention, supported by practical assistance for smallholders. can help conserve soil moisture and reduce fire risk during prolonged dry periods. Third, make drought finance accessible to smallholders. Concessional in finance, insurance and risk sharing tools should be combined with technical assistance and workable deliver mechanism. CP-OPC can contribute as a producing countries platform by convening governments, research institution, finance partner and value chain actors, sharing evidence across tropical context and connecting national policy and sustainability system with practical implementation. We welcome cooperation with UNCCD, the International Drought Resilience Alliance and partners advancing the Drought Resilience Investment Facility. The objective is clear, act before drought becomes crisis, strengthen the system already operating in the ground and keep rural producer resilient and economically viable.

I thank the distinguished representative of Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries. Now I give the floor to the distinguished representative of Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research.

Mr. President, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, drought is among the most pervasive challenges of this century. It threatens food and water security, ecosystems, and livelihoods. Farmers, pastoralists, and dryland communities bear the heaviest cost. Climate change and pressure on land and water are making droughts more frequent, longer, and more severe. The response has too often been reactive. Countries act only once drought has hit, when the losses are already mounting. The shift the world needs is from response to preparedness. This begins with a fundamental change in approach. Drought cannot continue to be treated as a temporary emergency, managed after crops fail, livestock are lost, and water sources disappear. It must be addressed as a long-term risk within agricultural, water, land use, and development planning. Science already offers many of the tools required: early warning systems that anticipate risk, climate-informed water management, drought-resilient crops and farming systems, restored soils, rangelands and watersheds, and better evidence to direct investment where it can have the best and greatest impact. The challenge is to connect these solutions and deliver them at scale. That shift depends on evidence, and it depends on turning commitments into action. As governments work to agree to a global drought framework at COP17, CGIAR provides the science that can inform stronger negotiation positions and practical follow-through. At COP17, CGIAR is sharing evidence from Central, South and Southeast Asia, from Latin America, from the Middle East and North Africa, and from Sub-Saharan Africa on how drought risk information can trigger earlier coordinated action and how the integrated management of water, land and food systems can strengthen resilience. This matters because drought crosses sectors, landscapes, and borders. Our response must do the same, regional cooperation supported by strong institutions. The CGR supplies the science behind all of these systems. As parties shape the global response to drought, the CGIAR calls for three priorities, invest before crises occur, place science and early warning at the center of decision making and ensure preparedness reaches the farmers, pastoralists and communities facing the greatest risk. Thank you very much.

I thank the distinguished representative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. I will now deliver closing remarks. Representatives of international organizations, financial institutions and development partners, distinguished delegates, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Mongolian government, I extend my sincere appreciation to all participants in the ministerial dialogue on drought resilience convened as part of the Water Day at UNCCCT COP17. Thank you for your active engagement and valuable contributions. Drought is becoming more frequent, prolonged and severe, with cascading impacts on the water and food security, ecosystems, livelihoods, economies and human well-being. No country is immune. Drought is no longer an isolated environmental concern. It is global and systemic challenge. As land degradation intensifies, drought risk increases. As climate change accelerates, water scarcity deepens. As biodiversity is lost, ecosystem resilience declines. Drought therefore lies at the intersection of land, water, food, climate and development. Today's dialogue has reaffirmed one central message. We must shift from reacting to drought after it occurs to anticipating, preparing for and reducing risk before they become crises. For many countries, including Mongolia, Drought is already a present reality. Land degradation affects 81.9% of our territory and more than 428,000 people are exposed to drought impacts. For our 195,000 livestock herding households, healthy land, reliable water sources and drought preparedness are essential to their livelihoods and food security. We must remember that drought doesn't begin on the day the rain stops, nor is resilience built on the day an emergency is declared. Resilience must be established in advance through risk assessment, early warning, long-term policies and sustained investment. Today's discussion highlighted five priorities. First, we need integrated approaches. Sustainable land and water management, ecosystem restoration and resilient agriculture must be embedded in national development. climate adaptation and land restoration planning. Second, science, data and early warning must be led anticipatory action. Stronger monitoring, forecasting and reliable data supported by innovation and artificial intelligence can enable timely evidence-based decisions. Third, international and regional cooperation is indispensable. We must strengthen coordination, knowledge sharing, technical assistance and capacity building, particularly for drought vulnerable countries and communities. Fourth, financing must match the scale of the challenge. We need significantly greater and more predictable financing for drought. resilience through innovative financing mechanisms, stronger partnerships with international financial institutions and better alignment of climate development and drought related investments. Fifth, drought resilience requires whole of the government and whole of the society approach. Women, Youth, farmers, pastoralists, and other vulnerable groups must participate meaningfully in planning and decision making. Particular attention must also be given to groundwater. In many regions, it is the last reliable source of the water for communities, food production, livestock, and ecosystems. Its importance doesn't justify our exploration. It demands responsible management. We must ensure that extraction remains within sustainable recharge, limits and protect the connection between groundwater, surface water and ecosystems. Existing initiatives, including the International Drought Resilience Alliance, The International Drought Resilience Observatory and Drought Financing Mechanisms provide a strong foundation. Our priority now is to translate these initiatives, resources and partnerships into concrete action at the local, national and regional levels. Mongolians have long revered water as Chandman Erden, appreciates Wishful filling jewel. Our ancestors taught us when rivers run dry, the land withers. When the land withers, life itself fades. Our message is simple. Without water, we cannot restore degraded land. Without healthy land, we cannot ensure water security. Without protecting both together, We cannot build resilience to drought. It is in this spirit that Mongolia launched the Water and Land Nexus Initiative. Today at UNCCCT COP17, bringing together science, policy, investment, and practical solutions for collective action. Drought may be the natural phenomenon, But if there it becomes the disaster depends on the choices we make today. May this dialogue strengthen our shared resolve and help COP17 advance a forward-looking decision that turns commitments into action. Let us restore land and restore hope. Thank you. We have now concluded this dialogue. I would like to thank all of you for your contributions today. Before adjourning, I would like to remind participants that the third ministerial dialogue will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, 26 August, at 10 a.m. in this hall. The meeting is now adjourned.