What determines financial resource allocation in developing countries? At the end of the day it is the economic dimension that provides the arguments which trigger financial flows. Yet notwithstanding this reality, the global dimension of desertification, land degradation and drought (DLDD) is not attracting the attention it merits.
The economic evaluation of politics, programmes and projects to combat desertification is the bedrock on which to develop arguments to influence decision-makers at all levels. It must be at the centre of the debate on the implementation of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification – making the case for increased financial support at all levels, by illustrating the cost-benefit ratio of DLDD-related investments - especially now in the run up to the 10th Session of the Conference of the Parties to be held in South Korea in October 2011.
The scientific community is engaged in the development of integrated evaluation frameworks to assess the effectiveness of measures to combat DLDD. Identifying and pilot-testing impact indicators and methodologies is part and parcel of this work. In this context, the scientific seminar on “politics, programmes and projects to combat desertification”, organized by the French Desertification Scientific Committee (CSFD) and the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute in Montpellier (IAMM) from 28-30 June 2011 in Montpellier, was a major step in this direction. This seminar was intended as a follow up to the international workshop on the economic & social costs of desertification held in December 2006 at FAO, jointly organized by the GM, AfD, CSFD and other partners.
The Global Mechanism (GM)’s Simone Quatrini was invited to chair the session on “Integrated approaches to evaluation” and as a panellist to the concluding session on “Evaluation: research needs”.
The seminar clearly emphasized the importance of promoting overall coherence in the evaluation criteria and methodologies from project to policy levels, as well as that of ensuring consistency with agreed, overarching objectives. In the rich debate during and on the margins of the seminar, the strengths and weaknesses of the international response to desertification came to light, and suggestions were made to advance the SLM agenda. The value of the UNCCD 10-year Strategy in providing a common framework that has the potential to attract and catalyse complementary action from all concerned stakeholders was highlighted in this context.
The French scientific community expressed its renewed and sustained commitment towards the development and fine-tuning of an integrated framework for evaluating the operational and institutional performance of the UNCCD. As part of this process, the GM will be working closely alongside the French scientific community in relevant initiatives to facilitate the integration of biophysical and socio-economic aspects in decision making on financial resource allocation for combating DLDD.
For more information:
Mr Simone Quatrini, Coordinator, Policy & Investment Analysis
Tel. +39 06 5459 2154
s.quatrini (at) global-mechanism.org
Annie Maillard
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tel + 33 (0)4 67 04 75 29
