COP8 and CRIC6 took place in Madrid, Spain from September 3rd to 14th. Among other issues, this conference discussed the draft ten year strategic plan for the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), the outcome of last year's International Year of Deserts and Desertification, preparation of the next session of the Committee on Sustainable Development (CSD), and interactive dialogue sessions on the theme of 'Desertification and adaptation to climate change.

One member from the DCG secretariat in Norway participated in this event as both part of the Norwegian delegation and part of the European networking initiative on Desertification (eniD). EniD wrote a position paper on the ten year strategy that was developed for the UNCCD and a press release.

Results:
The 10 year strategic plan for the implementation of the Convention was adopted by the Parties as a whole and decisions were agreed on as an annex to the plan. DCG along with the other Norwegian delegates and backed by eniD fought to have civil society included in the implementation of the plan.

An extra-ordinary meeting will take place in New York on November 26th to agree on a budget for 2008-2009 as no consensus was reached on this issue in Madrid.

The Open Dialogue Session organized by the NGOs on September 11th focused on three themes: participation of civil society organizations in UNCCD processes, gender, and climate change and adaptation. DCG along with another eniD member prepared a presentation for the first topic.

Here is a summary of the discussions that took place at COP8 provided by the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (IIED).

Here is also a link to the ECO bulletin (the NGOs' bulletin) for COP8.

Here is an advanced copy of the report on COP8 by the UNCCD secretariat.

An internal report on DCG's participation at COP8 can be found on the Intranet.

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