The second open dialogue session for the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) opened with recognition of the vital role CSOs play in strengthening implementation of the UNCCD.
The Executive Secretary, Mr Luc Gnacadja, recalled the fruitful debate of the first open dialogue session that took place earlier in the week, which focused on resource mobilization and the forging of partnerships between international and national actors. He noted that CSOs had highlighted the lack of capacity building activities for CSOs to effectively implement the UNCCD and reiterated the importance of CSOs to the Convention and stressing its role in the fourth operational objective of the Ten Year strategy. He further pointed to the UNCCD capacity building market place – an interactive online platform which brings together the needs and solutions of all actors – as a key resource for further exploration.
Dr Mary Seely, Desert Research Foundation of Namibia, was assigned as moderator for the session, which was organized into two separate panel sessions focusing on the topic of capacity building for civil society organizations firstly from a national perspective and then from an international level perspective.
Following presentations from panelists on a broad spectrum of community based initiatives that are being implemented across the world, an open dialogue ensured with discussions focusing on a variety of issues and recommendations of how to enhance capacities for CSOs to empower them to play a greater and more pro-active role in UNCCD implementation.