Importance of women empowerment in combating land desertification discussed at UNCCD conference

The importance of women empowerment in combating land desertification was emphasised at a conference organised by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) here on Thursday.

Speaking at the 14th session of the Conference of Parties (COP 14) to the UNCCD, Nishtha Satyam, Deputy Representative, UN Women India said, "In a country like India, women account for most of the agricultural work but are still invisible when it comes to their identity.

"This makes it absolutely important that we include gender considerations when we look at land degradation."
Stressing that women's rights were at the centre of the issue of land degradation, she said, "In a period of two years, we are launching the manual on mainstreaming gender considerations in land degradation neutrality (LDN) projects."