14 November 2008: 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 Strategy would be executed and assessed.
The two-day 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 COP.
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. [IISD RS coverage]