Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Mikhael Jaime Shamis, President, World Youth Bank, have signed a partnership to mobilize resources and carry out high-level advocacy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member States.
13 June 2013: Luc Gnacadja, Executive Secretary of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), and Mikhael Jaime Shamis, President, World Youth Bank, have signed a partnership agreement to mobilize resources and carry out high-level advocacy in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member States.
The partnership was entered on 13 June 2013, through an exchange of letters. The partnership will seek “to secure finances for the Convention’s Supplementary Trust Fund and advocate and raise awareness among the GCC member States, including rallying celebrities to support the Convention’s cause and participate in its major events.” The GCC member States include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
As part of the partnership, a resource mobilization task force will be based in Dubai. Shamis will co-chair the task force. He announced financial and technical support to help translate the UNCCD website into the UN’s six official languages before the 11th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11), which will convene in Windhoek, Namibia, from 16-27 September 2013. [UNCCD News Release]