African delegates at the world conference on desertification in Senegal have criticised the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) for not giving enough attention to the UN Convention for the Control of Desertification, PANA reported yesterday.
The African group told the convention’s new executive secretary, Klaus Toepfer, that UNEP was not doing all it could in the field of desertification which only strengthened the conviction shared by the most influential members of the convention that desertification came a poor second to the conventions on climate and biodiversity.
According to PANA, Toepfer assured the Africans that he would give greater attention to Africa. “We are presently stabilising, revitalising and developing our activities and Africa is among the five great priorities” for the future,” PANA quoted him as saying.
The conference ends tomorrow.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article
