On behalf of the ECO Secretariat, Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Huseyin Avni Bicakli, participated in the high level segment of fifteenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP15) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), taken place in Abidjan, Cأ´te d’Ivoire, during 9 to 11 May 2022.
The Conference was attended on the invitation of the UN’s Undersecretary General and Executive Secretary of the Convention to Combat Desertification. The ECO Deputy Secretary General delivered statement during the meeting and highlighted priorities of ECO Region on combatting land degradation and desertification issues.
By revealing key objectives of Organization’s environmental profile, ECO Deputy Secretary General emphasized significance of tackling main aspects of land degradation in ECO region as one of the gravest challenges in its member states exposing serious incremental impact in economic and ecological situation.
He also called for international community to increase efforts for taking active partnership to address challenges of land degradation in ECO region. Dr.Bicakli encouraged audience to contribute and cooperate with ECO particularly in its flagship project “ECO LANDCARE PROGRAM”.
In conclusion, Deputy Secretary General reiterated that ECO has always been committed to work for implementation and raise awareness and the achievement of the SDGs and would remain ever-receptive and ready to make activities in its relevant areas of cooperation with the neighboring nations, interested countries as well as relevant regional/international organizations.
Within conference sidelines, Dr.Bicakli exchanged views and discussed possibilities of partnership on environmental cooperation with high dignitaries of participating states and international organizations.
