AllAfrica.com via the Namibian: The United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced yesterday that the UN is ready to support Namibia fight the effects of the drought that is currently ravaging Namibia. In a message to the 11th Conference of Parties to the parties of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification yesterday, Ki-moon said the conference was taking place at a time Namibia is facing a severe drought."You meet as Namibia faces severe drought. The United Nations system stands ready to continue to support your efforts to mitigate its effects and build resilience. Desertification and land degradation threaten the livelihoods, well-being and sustainable development of at least one billion people.
In the drylands of Africa, climate change is already having an impact. Temperatures have risen by about two degrees Celsius in some areas. Long periods of drought, famine and deepening poverty are impoverishing and depopulating vast areas," he said.
He said healthy land is a prerequisite for food and water security and necessary to avert political instability. "We need it for climate change resilience and preserving valuable biodiversity. World leaders at Rio+20 acknowledged the threat of desertification, land degradation and drought in all regions, and especially for developing countries. As we define the post-2015 development agenda, we need to be able to measure progress towards the commitment to halt and reverse land degradation," he said...
The Fish River Canyon in Namibia, shot by GIRAUD Patrick, Wikimedia Commons, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license
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