By 2023, some 700 million people could be at risk of being displaced due to drought-related causes. This is just a small sign that humankind is at a critical point in terms of drought management and combating desertification, and that it is urgent to accelerate efforts to reduce it.
This is why every June 17 we celebrate the Desertification and Drought Day, to raise awareness of the devastating effects that these phenomena have on the environment and people's safety, as they represent serious present and future problems for the whole Earth.
The United Nations General Assembly officially designated this day in 1997, to raise awareness of the importance for human beings and for the planet of addressing and providing solutions to water scarcity problems. In 2022, Spain will host this international event; the global observance of the day, whose theme this year is "Rising up from drought together", will take place in Madrid on June 17.
The celebration will focus on the urgency of adopting policies and measures at local, regional and global scales to avoid the worst effects of desertification, and will allow strengthening the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in countries that experience serious problems with these phenomena, as is the case of Africa, where more than 300 events have been recorded in the last one hundred years, accounting for 44% of the global total.
