The 16th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) will take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, from 2 to 13 December 2024.
As part of preparations for UNCCD COP-16, Armenia, as the regional chairing country, is hosting national coordinators and scientific representatives of Central and Eastern European countries on October 15-17 to discuss draft decisions of UNCCD COP-16.
 At the same time, the meeting is a good opportunity to highlight regional priorities in combat desertification and drought and to define joint proposals for submission to UNCCD COP-16.
Hakob Simidyan, Minister of Environment of the RA participated in the opening of the regional preparatory meeting.
In his welcoming speech, Hakob Simidyan thanked the partners for entrusting Armenia with the presidency of the UNCCD COP16. Annex V: Central and Eastern Europe countries at the 15th session of the Conference of the Parties. The minister also thanked the Convention Secretariat for constant cooperation and support.
"During the years of the presidency, we had the honour to host Mr. Donwahi, President of the COP15, and the partners of the Intergovernmental Working Group on Drought (IWG) twice, and together with the Convention Secretariat, a negotiation training was organized in Yerevan for the delegates of 18 countries.
These international meetings were a good opportunity to combine our knowledge and experience, to review our approaches aimed at solving the problems of land degradation neutralization, and we hope to be actively involved in the implementation of the convention in the future," the minister noted.
Hakob Simidyan also referred to the steps taken by the Republic of Armenia to regulate the sector.
"In recent years, the Government of Armenia has made significant attempts to rectify the current situation by adopting the necessary decisions, engaging the assistance of various international organizations and implementing international projects to address cross-cutting issues and ensure synergy between the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and UN Convention on Biodiversity.
Aimed at improving the sector, the Government implements subsidy programmes for the people investing in drip irrigation systems and building smart cattle sheds. Currently, the Government has initiated a pilot programme of land consolidation, which will enable farmers to use larger areas for agricultural purposes.
For the most appropriate use of water resources, it is planned to build reservoirs in different regions.
The programmes implemented by the joint efforts of the Government and international partners greatly contribute to the improvement of land resources."
Birguy Lamizana Diallo, Chief of Global Policy, Advocacy and Regional Cooperation, also gave a speech.
The meeting was chaired by Narine Hakobyan, Narine Hakobyan, National Coordinator of the UN Convention to Combating Desertification, Deputy Head of Department of Land and Underground Resources Policy of the Ministry of Environment.