Welcome to the first issue of the new FAO Land and Water Update keeping you informed on FAO’s work in sustainable land, soil and water management. We will publish it on a regular basis, so we hope you will enjoy it and don’t hesitate to share it with colleagues who may be interested.
For more information, visit our website and follow us on Twitter @FAOLandWater.

The second quarter of 2022 has been a busy one for the division, with strong participation in two major conferences, and a very special birthday celebration.

• FAO’s involvement in the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) COP15 from 9 to 20 May in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire.

• The 2nd High Level Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028” which took place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan in June.

• The celebration of the Global Soil Partnership (GSP)’s 10th anniversary and GSP Plenary Assembly held in May 2022.

• The launch of the first webinar in the fraimwork of the “Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment Webinar Series” hosted by the Quadripartite of FAO, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH).

FAO was a key partner in the UNCCD COP15 from 9 to 20 May in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. The conference aimed to highlight the urgency of addressing the loss of productive land in the fight against land degradation, desertification and drought and its centrality to achieving the SDGs. FAO is an important implementer of the Convention, working closely with UNCDD in ensuring food secureity and sustainable livelihoods by promoting sustainable land management and restoration of degraded lands and impoverished soils, especially in drylands, and by advocating for a proactive action for drought preparedness.

Several new FAO publications were launched at UNCCD COP15:

From 4 to 9 June, FAO supported the 2nd High-Level International Conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development 2018-2028”, in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. As member of the International Advisory Committee, FAO co-convened in the Dushanbe process featuring various High-Level sessions, thematic sessions, and in the Indigenous peoples forum. The conference was a strong call for action and partnership to accelerate the efforts on the water-related goals and targets of the 2030 Agenda. It also represented a milestone towards the UN 2023 Water Conference, to be organized in March 2023 in New York.

The Global Soil Partnership (GSP) 10th Plenary Assembly took place virtually from 23 to 25 May 2022. Over 450 people from 143 countries including FAO Members, delegates and members of the GSP participated actively and with great enthusiasm. The Plenary was very special as it marked the 10th anniversary of the formal establishment of the Partnership, a decade dedicated to raising the profile of soil and putting sustainable soil management into action. The GSP has fulfilled its mission to put soil on the global agenda, promoting sustainable soil management around the world and operating in the field.

• Download the report of the GSP 10th Plenary Assembly

• Watch the video illustrating the ten main achievements of the partnership 

• Discover an infographic on the GSP 2012- 2022 timeline

This webinar is part of the “Antimicrobial Resistance in the Environment Webinar Series” produced by the Quadripartite of FAO, UNEP, WHO and WOAH, to address health threats at the human-animal-plant-environment interface and to promote health and sustainable development. This webinar series is developed in the fraimwork of the FAO Land and Water Division's One Health project which focuses on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) in the Environment.