17 July 2013: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has invited expressions of interest from the private sector to undertake awareness-raising partnerships during the eleventh session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 11), which will take place in Namibia from 16-27 September 2013.

The call is based on decision 4/COP.10, in which the COP invited “public-private partnerships for the implementation of the UNCCD comprehensive communication strategy to further strengthen the outreach for new actors on sustainable land management and to receive support from those partnerships for global campaigns on desertification/land degradation and drought.”

Areas suggested for partnerships include: sponsorship and/or organization of the Land for Life Award Ceremony; sponsorship and/or co-hosting the Third UNCCD Photo Contest Exhibition and its Award ceremony; sponsorship and/or co-organizing a film festival; co-sponsorship and/or co-organizing a one-day workshop on Gender and Drylands; co-sponsorship and/or co-organizing the Rio Conventions Pavilion; and co-sponsorship of the Land for Life magazine. [More information on these options and other issues related to sponsorship proposals]

In other UNCCD awareness-raising news, the jury for the photo contest has been announced and submissions are invited by 26 July 2013 [UNCCD News Release on photo contest jury][UNCCD photo contest information]