March 2014: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has requested that National Focal Points confirm the names of the independent experts who should remain on the Roster of Experts, as well as nominate new experts by 31 March 2014.

The Convention called for the establishment of the Roster in Article 24, paragraph 2, and the Secretariat has maintained the Roster since the UNCCD entered into force. The Roster provides the COP with a list of independent experts from which ad hoc panels may be selected.

The eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11) decided, in September 2013, that experts whose names have not been confirmed will be removed from the Roster. As of June 2013, the Roster included over 1900 experts from 94 parties.

Nominees to the Roster must submit an application to their National Focal Point, who then officially transmits the information to the Secretariat. [UNCCD Information on Roster of Experts, including application forms]