PROGRAMME MANAGEMENT OFFICER in Bonn bei United Nations

Desertification, along with climate change and the loss of biodiversity were identified as the greatest challenges to sustainable development during the 1992 Rio Earth Summit. Established in 1994, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), one of the three “Rio conventions” is the sole legally binding international agreement linking environment and development to sustainable land management. The UNCCD provides the foundation for its 197 Parties to work together to combat desertification, land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought; maintain and restore land and soil productivity, and improve the living conditions for people. The Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Unit of the UNCCD secretariat serves the two subsidiary bodies of the Conference of the Parties (COP), namely the Committee on Science and Technology (CST) and the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention (CRIC). It links scientific knowledge with implementation, planning and policy development, with the aim to ensure that findings and opportunities produced by science are effectively channeled to benefit field activities to implement the UNCCD. The STI also supports national reporting on the progress countries are making in the implementation of the Convention and serves as the secretariat hub for the realization of capacity development and innovation across the UNCCD. Interfacing science and policy is central to how the STI supports the CST and its work programme. This includes COP decisions to be implemented by the CST with support of the secretariat and in many cases, collaboration with technical partners. It also includes the work programme of the UNCCD Science-Policy Interface (SPI) made up of 25 global experts who assess, synthesize and translate current science for the consideration of policy makers. The work programme of the SPI, which is determined by the CST and adopted by the COP, typically involves two scientific assessments, scientific quality assurance for the Global Land Outlook, and coordination activities with other scientific bodies and panels including, among others, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). From these scientific assessments and coordination activities, the SPI produces peer-reviewed technical reports as well as science-policy briefs designed to support policy development. The STI also supports the policy advocacy, communications and resource mobilization efforts of the UNCCD to help ensure that the content of all communications and guidance products produced under the name of the UNCCD are evidence based. For more information about the science agenda of the UNCCD and how it interfaces science and policy, see: https://www.unccd.int/science/overview