International
communities recognize that desertification is harmful to economic, social
and environment of many countries in all regions of the world. In 1977
the United Nations Conference on Desertification ( UNCOD) adopted a Plan
of Action to Combat Desertification (PACD). Unfortunately, despite this,
the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) concluded in 1991 that
the problem of land degradation in many areas of the world had intensified.
As a result , desertification was still a major concern for the 1992 United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro. The Conference supported a new integrated approach to emphasize action, taking to promote sustainable development at the community level. It also called on the United Nations General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/of Desertifiation, Particularly in Africa. In December 1992, the General Assembly agreed by adopting Resolution 47/188.
Working to a tight schedule, the Committee completed its negotiations in five sessions. The Convention was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and opened for signature there on 14 – 15 October 1994. It entered into force on 26 December 1996, 90 days after the 50th ratification was received. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which is the Convention’s supreme body, held its first session in October 1997 in Rome, Italy; the second in December 1998 in Dakar, Senegal; the third in November 1999 in Recife, Brazil; the fourth in December 2000 in Bonn, Germany; the fifth in December 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland and the sixth in August-September 2003 in Havana, Cuba.
As a result , desertification was still a major concern for the 1992 United Nation Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro. The Conference supported a new integrated approach to emphasize action, taking to promote sustainable development at the community level. It also called on the United Nations General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/of Desertifiation, Particularly in Africa. In December 1992, the General Assembly agreed by adopting Resolution 47/188.
Working to a tight schedule, the Committee completed its negotiations in five sessions. The Convention was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994 and opened for signature there on 14 – 15 October 1994. It entered into force on 26 December 1996, 90 days after the 50th ratification was received. The Conference of the Parties (COP), which is the Convention’s supreme body, held its first session in October 1997 in Rome, Italy; the second in December 1998 in Dakar, Senegal; the third in November 1999 in Recife, Brazil; the fourth in December 2000 in Bonn, Germany; the fifth in December 2001 in Geneva, Switzerland and the sixth in August-September 2003 in Havana, Cuba.