General Director Tawahria Advocates Desertification Funding at UN Conference

Jamal Tawahria, Algeria's General Director of Forests, participated in the 17th Session of the Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, from August 24 to 26. During a high-level session, with a representative from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also present, Mr. Tawahria delivered a speech focusing on "innovative financing mechanisms for healthy and resilient lands in the face of drought."

In his address, the General Director of Forests affirmed Algeria's established national priority for investing in land and water resources. He specifically highlighted the "Green Dam" project, which President Abdelmadjid Tebboune relaunched with environmental, economic, and social dimensions. Mr. Tawahria presented this initiative as an exemplary model for mobilizing financial resources dedicated to land reclamation and the fight against desertification.

Mr. Tawahria underscored the necessity of treating the financing of global efforts to combat desertification, land degradation, and drought as a priority, particularly in light of the existing global financing gap. He emphasized the importance of developing more efficient and flexible financing mechanisms to further the objectives of the UNCCD. The General Directorate of Forests, operating under the Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries, serves as Algeria's national focal point for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.