President of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly (UNGA), Csaba Kőrösi, has called on the Member States to recognise women’s contributions to the sustainable management of land and the broader achievement of the 2030 Agenda.

Kőrösi made the call on Friday in New York at an event held by Member States in observance of World Day to Combat Desertification.

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought is celebrated each year by the United Nations on June 17.

Its purpose is to raise awareness of the presence of desertification and drought, highlighting methods of preventing desertification and recovering from drought.

Kőrösi also urged Member States to promote laws and policies that would ensure no one was left behind.

“We cannot let this foundational promise dry out.

“In this field, too, we should do our best to remove the barriers to women’s participation in decision-making.

“The 2030 Agenda recognises that gender-equal access to land rights is integral to the achievement of all our global goals of sustainable development.

“All 17 goals – from achieving gender equality, to ending poverty and hunger, and to sustaining life on land,” he said.

According to him, this understanding of the integrated nature of both crises and solutions must have pride of place at the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Summit in September.

Similarly, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, in his message to mark the Day, urged all governments to eliminate legal barriers to women owning land, and to involve them in policy making.