desertification

Leadership for Change: A Call to Action from Sisters Supporting Vulnerable Communities

This side event will address SDGs 14, 15, and 17 – under review at this year’s High-Level Political Forum – by featuring panelists with expertise in creating environmental initiatives that serve and support our planet’s most vulnerable communities. Panelists will include Sisters engaged in grassroots advocacy, speakers from civil society sharing best practices for partnerships around the SDGs, and representatives from Member States with experience of collaborating to make the 2030 Agenda a reality for all. With this event, we aim to model effective implementation of SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals. UNANIMA and UISG are partnering to produce a concise and powerful call to action, drawing from the experiences of Sisters as development leaders, with concrete policy recommendations on achieving the relevant SDGs.

Join live here on July 7 at 1pm Eastern / 7pm CET:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82672796766?pwd=uuOs9L9gjyMT_WOZAq3SV38ZlU4CWs.1&mc_cid=13e5b4d572&mc_eid=e1bba69d46#success

Through this event, UNANIMA International and the International Union of Superiors General (UISG) will bring to Member States the distinctive voices of Catholic Sisters – women leaders supporting marginalized communities around the world – with a strong call to action on SDGs 14, 15 and 17, under review at this Forum.

The Goals:

SDGs 14 and 15 were established by the UN in 2015. Life Below Water aims to “conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development.” Life on Land was created to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss.” The Earth’s delicate ecosystems sustain and nourish life for all humans.

However, extractive industries, plastic pollution, and many other toxic practices are disrupting the relationship between people and our planet. Marginalized groups, Small-Island Developing States, and countries in the global south are particularly reliant on oceans and land for food security and wellbeing. Habitat loss caused by rising sea levels, deforestation, and other climate-related factors is wreaking havoc around the globe, forcing people to seek out temporary, crowded, and unsafe shelters where illness and infection spread quickly.

Climate injustice – including the loss of homes, biodiversity, and essential food and water supplies – is one of the most pressing obstacles to achieving the SDGs. Indigenous and local communities suffering from changes to their environments can often provide solutions to the challenges we face below water and on land: their insights will be essential in caring for the Earth as we approach 2030.

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-NY, a Substantive Committee of the Conference of NGOs in Consultative Relationship at the United Nations, please visit  ngocsw.org. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com. For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Vienna, please visit ngocswvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Status of Women-Geneva, please visit  ngocsw-geneva.ch.

Virtual CINE-ONU presents “The Great Green Wall”

To mark the launch of the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration and the World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought, the United Nations and the European Commission present: “The Great Green Wall.”

After a short introduction from Veronika Hunt Safrankova,  Head of Brussels Office, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Camilla Nordheim-Larsen, Senior Partnerships and Resource Mobilization Coordinator at UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and Producer of the film, we will have a discussion and Q&A with the speakers below:

  • Elvis Tangem – Coordinator of The Great Green Wall Initiative for the Sahara and Sahel, African Union
  • Sandra Kramer – European Commission, Director Africa, Department of International Partnerships (DG INTPA)
  • Nora Berrahmouni – Senior forestry officer for Africa at the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) 
  • Deborah Seward (moderator) – Director of the UN Regional Information Centre (UNRIC)

About/Synopsis:

Imagine if we could restore a piece of land 3 times the size of the Great Barrier Reef! The African-led initiative referred to as the Great Green Wall, is growing an 8,000km natural ‘wonder of the world ‘ across the entire width of Africa. Discover how this project is providing a future for over 60 million people in the region.

The Great Green Wall provides a refreshing story of resilience, optimism and collective action. As Inna Modja passionately pursues an African Dream for a generation seeking to control their own destiny, she reminds us of the enormity of the task ahead and that time is not on our side. The resulting journey of hope, hardship and perseverance reveals our shared human condition, reflecting a deeper moral and existential question we all must confront: “Will we take action before it’s too late?

Watch the trailer here: youtube.com/watch?v=kB1qK_yBVxU

Register for the discussion here: https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pxFKjLqyQxiJcKesdnZ3LQ

This event is organised in collaboration with Cine-ONU Vienna and Cine-ONU Geneva

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CoNGO Notes: For more information on the NGO Committee on Financing for Development, please visit ngosonffd.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-NY, please visit ngocsd-ny.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on Sustainable Development-Vienna, please visit ngocsdvienna.org. For more information on the NGO Committee on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, please visit facebook.com/NGOCoRIP. For more information on the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations, please visit rngos.wordpress.com.