4 April 2013: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has prepared an informal guide for participants in the upcoming UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference, third special session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S‐3), and the eleventh session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 11).

The guide reviews the “purpose, structure and programme of CST S‐3/scientific conference and CRIC 11” and highlights the main issues to be considered, although it notes that it is not an official document for the conferences.

The scientific conference will consider the theme “Economic assessment of desertification, sustainable land management and resilience of arid, semi‐arid and dry sub‐humid areas.” It is expected to produce scientific outputs and policy-oriented recommendations, which will be submitted to the CST and Conference of the Parties (COP) for consideration. The recommendations are expected to include proposals to “address the information of available options and possible scenarios for decision and policy-makers on the economic assessment of desertification, land degradation and sustainable land management.”

CRIC 11 will “complete the first assessment of implementation after the adoption of the Strategy and the PRAIS” (the performance review and assessment of implementation system). Discussions are expected to focus on “identifying actions and measures required in order to achieve the global targets of performance indicators; provide guidance on how to better monitor performance and impact indicators (including targets); and improve access to and utilization of available information.”

In addition, the Secretariat has released information on suggested hashtags for the meetings and more Twitter information: #2SciConf for the CST S-3 and the UNCCD 2nd Scientific Conference and #CRIC11 for the CRIC 11. Live tweeting will be contributed by @UNCCD, @globalmechanism and @LucGnacadja. Plenary sessions will be webcast live at: http://www.unccd.int/en/media-center/Multimedia/Live-Webcast/Pages/default.aspx [Publication: Informal Guide for Participants][UNCCD website for the meetings]