World Day to Combat Desertification

The World Day to Combat Desertification has been observed since 1995 to promote public awareness relating to international cooperation to combat desertification and the effects of drought.
In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the “World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought” to promote public awareness of the issue, and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa.
Ever since, country Parties to the Convention, organizations of the United Nations System, international and non-governmental organizations and other interested stakeholders have celebrated this particular day with a series of outreach activities worldwide.
The World Day to Combat Desertification is a unique occasion to remind everybody that desertification can be effectively tackled, that solutions are possible, and that key tools to this aim lay in strengthened community participation and co-operation at all levels.
The 2015 Theme is “No such thing as a free lunch. Invest in healthy soils” The World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) is observed worldwide on 17 June every year. The focus this year is “attainment of food security for all through sustainable food systems.”
With the slogan, ‘No such thing as a free lunch. Invest in healthy soil’, the 2015 observance calls for:
a) A change in our land use practices through smart agriculture and adaptation to changing climate, especially in the dry fragile parts of the world where food shortages are becoming more and more severe
b) Access to technology and land rights for small holder farmers who safeguard the environment and meet the food needs of millions of households, especially among the poorest households
c) A balance in the land use for ecology and consumption, drawing on the best practices
d) More investments in sustainable land practices so that sustainable food systems become the normal practice and
e) More effective action on desertification whose effects on security, peace and stability are invisible yet real for the affected countries due especially to food and water scarcity and environmentally forced migration.