29 July 1983

Climatic situation and drought in Africa

The Economic and Social Council,

Recalling General Assembly resolutions 37/147 of 17 December 1982 on the drought-stricken areas of Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan and Uganda, 37/165 of 17 December 1982 on the implementation of the medium-term and long-term recovery and rehabilitation programme in the Sudano-Sahelian region, and 37/216 of 20 December 1982 on the implementation in the region of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertifiction,

Recalling also resolution 239 (XI) on drought in the Sahelian zone, adopted on 23 February 1973 by the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa,

Aware that drought, which had affected the Sahel region in the 1970s, is now seriously affecting thirty-four African countries, twenty-four of which are among the least developed and some of which are located outside the Sudano-Sahelian region and the Kalahari desert region,

Realizing that drought is now a chronic natural phenomenon whose causes, frequency and trends are currently difficult to control and must be studied scientifically,

Conscious of the linear relationship between drought, desertification and underdevelopment,

Recalling further resolution 446 (XVII) adopted on 30 April 1982 by the Conference of Ministers of the Economic Commission for Africa,

Deeply concerned about the worsening climatic situation and dire effects of recurring drought, erosion, cyclones and famine on the peoples of Africa and on the African economy in general,

1. Urgently requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to organize a special scientific round-table meeting, to which all States members of the Commission would be invited and which would consist of national experts from the invited countries, as well as international experts on climate, land, water and soil resources, ecology and the environment, on the problems of the climatic situation in Africa with a view to examining the causes, periodicity, trends and effects of drought on the African economy and to proposing measures to be taken in the short, medium and long terms to deal with the problem;

2. Appeals to the relevant organs, organizations and bodies of the United Nations system, such as the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Sudano-Sahelian Office, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the world Meteorological Organization, and to the Organization of African Unity and other relevant intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, to collaborate actively with the Economic Commission for Africa in this urgent task;

3. Calls upon African Governments to give high priority, through the allocation of both financial resources and manpower, to the problem of understanding climatic variability in their countries in order to facilitate advance planning for drought, erosion, cyclones, famine and their related effects;

4. Requests the Secretary-General to make available to the Economic Commission for Africa, by redeploying regular resources of the United Nations, adequate financial resources to enable it to undertake this most important task;

5. Further requests the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa to submit a report on the outcome of the scientific round-table meeting on the climatic situation in Africa to the Economic and Social Council at its second regular session of 1984;

6. Calls upon the international cmmunity to grant adequate financial resources to the countries affected by drought and desertification and to the institutions engaged in combating those phenomena.