January 2013: The Secretariat of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has released a note titled “Identification of a new housing arrangement for the Global Mechanism.” The note was prepared pursuant to decision 6/COP.10 “to provide information on the possible options for a new housing arrangement for the Global Mechanism, including potential co-location with the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.”

The 64-page document offers the background and a summary of the approach and methods of assessment. It then reviews various options, including: the current host, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD); alternative options in Rome, Italy; the Secretariat of the UNCCD, in Bonn, Germany; and other housing options. Estimated one-time costs of relocating the staff to Bonn, Washington, DC, New York, and Geneva are presented.

The note indicates that IFAD “has repeatedly confirmed that it will ‘support whatever decision the COP may take with respect to the housing of the GM, on the principle that the GM is an organ of the COP and that IFAD does not hold any responsibility or liability over the GM and its staff’.” It also notes that the Government of Italy has expressed an interest in maintaining the Global Mechanism (GM) in Rome.

The note suggests that “co-location of the GM with the secretariat at the UNCCD headquarters in Bonn has the potential to resolve the majority of outstanding issues.” And it concludes that, based on its findings, “the Executive Secretary will include the estimated costs of the new housing arrangements of the GM in the preparation of the Convention budget for the biennium 2014–2015.” [Publication: Identification of a New Housing Arrangement for the Global Mechanism]