In a press release issued on the occasion of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (June 17), the SG of the Arab League notes that this year's celebration coincides with the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, an international treaty focusing on land management and drought, one of the three Rio conventions concerning biodiversity, climate change and desertification.

With this year's theme "United for land. Our heritage. Our Future", the SG stressed the importance of mobilizing all levels of society to support sustainable land management, especially as the Arab countries are among the most ecologically fragile regions in the world, with 90% of their surface area classified as arid and extremely arid.

Officially proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in 1994, the celebration of World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought aims to raise public awareness of the problems associated with desertification, land degradation and drought, to highlight man-made solutions for preventing desertification and reversing the trend towards increasing drought, and to strengthen the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.