16 January 2014: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has announced that Tarja Halonen, former President of Finland, has been designated a UNCCD Drylands Ambassador.

In accepting the designation, Halonen said, “Sustainable development, poverty eradication and the empowerment of women are very close to my heart. That is why I agreed to serve as Co-Chair of the UN Millennium Summit, later as Co-Chair of the High-level Panel on Global Sustainably, and now as Drylands Ambassador of the UNCCD.” She added that she would seek to promote sustainable land management (SLM) at all levels, as well as its inclusion in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda.

Halonen follows the most recent appointment, Pedro Pires, Cape Verde, who became a UNCCD Drylands Ambassador in October 2013, in an effort to promote a land degradation neutral world, as called for in the outcome of the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). Halonen is the ninth UNCCD Drylands Ambassador. [UNCCD News Release][Land Policy & Practice news posts about Drylands Ambassadors] [UNCCD Drylands Ambassadors webpage]