The Désertif’actions 2026 Summit took place from 25 to 28 March on the island of Djerba in Tunisia. This 6th edition, coordinated by the CARI association, was co-organised with the OSS and the UNCCD, and in partnership with the ACDD and WWF North Africa.
Held at the Superior Institute of Technology Education (ISET-Djerba), the Summit welcomed nearly 400 participants, the majority of whom were civil society representatives, from over 50 countries. According to Claude Gascon, interim director of the GEF, “Désertif’actions has become the world’s largest civil society forum dedicated to desertification, land degradation and drought”.
Focusing on the resilience of territories to drought, the Summit followed a preparatory phase initiated in 2025 during which more than 600 people contributed through workshops organised by volunteer CSOs in 18 countries, an online questionnaire and thematic webinars. This preparatory phase produced arguments and recommendations on drought resilience, which were shared in plenary sessions and further developed during thematic group discussions at the Summit.
Thus, Summit participants formulated recommendations covering the key drivers of territorial resilience, incorporating the following dimensions:
- Ecological (agricultural biodiversity, trees and forests),
- Economic (circular economy, employment),
- Technical and scientific (innovative irrigation, resilience measurement),
- Social and institutional (human rights, the role of women, youth, capacity building, multi-stakeholder collaboration).
Organised in the preparation to COP17, the Summit provided an opportunity to outline the key issues for future UNCCD negotiations, which must:
- Set out the framework for the post-2030 strategy to combat desertification, land degradation and drought at the global level
- Propose guidelines to strengthen policies and support for pastoralism
- Consider accelerating LDN on agricultural land
- And finally, reach a consensus on accelerating drought resilience
According to Ms Philippine Dutailly, UNCCD focal point for France: “CSOs have a vital role to play in bringing the recommendations of Désertif’actions 2026 to COP17 and contributing to the success of the UNCCD negotiations”.
Tasked with coordinating CSO advocacy during COP17, the UNCCD CSO panel plans to draw on the findings of Désertif’actions 2026:
- One of the open dialogue sessions will focus on territorial resilience to drought, a central theme of D’a. The Summit enabled the preparation of the terms of reference for this session, and above all provided an opportunity to consider the strategy for encouraging national delegations to follow them.
- The key messages drawn from the various phases of Désertif’actions will be re-mobilised for the joint CSO statements, and the Summit also enabled the preparation of initial draft statements.
For the organisers, this latest edition of Désertif’actions was a success, demonstrating that despite a global context marked by war and the decline of multilateralism, it is possible to bring together a diverse range of people from completely different cultures, languages and geographical contexts to discuss shared challenges and collectively build a strong and powerful voice.
