The first Special Session of the Committee on Science and Technology (CST S-1) and the seventh session of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC 7) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) convened in Istanbul, Turkey, from 3-14 November 2008.

Delegates reviewed the two-year work programmes and four-year work plans that the Convention’s bodies were asked to develop, as well as indicators and reporting guidelines, to set in place the mechanisms through which implementation of the ten-year strategic plan (the Strategy), which was adopted in 2007, would be executed and assessed. The CST S-1 session, from 5-6 November, considered preparations for CST 9, elements of the Strategy related to the CST, the CST’s four-year work plan and two-year costed work programme, and advice to the CRIC on measuring progress on the Strategy’s Strategic Objectives. CRIC 7, which convened from 7-14 November, considered: the work plans and programmes for the Convention’s bodies; the format of future meetings of the CRIC; and indicators and monitoring of the Strategy and principles for improving the procedures for communication of information as well as the quality and format of reports submitted to the Conference of the Parties. Delegates also conducted informal consultations to develop a process through which the CST Bureau would work during the coming year to identify a minimum set of indicators to monitor and assess desertification.
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