Combating Sand and Dust Storms

A/RES/79/212View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 18jCombating sand and dust storms, published in 2024.

What other versions does this mandate have?

11 versions · 2016–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/80/143

2025A/RES/80/143Combating sand and dust stormsLatestCompare with previous version
2024A/RES/79/212Combating sand and dust stormsCompare with previous version
2023A/RES/78/158Combating sand and dust stormsCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/77/171Combating sand and dust stormsCompare with previous version
2022A/RES/76/211Combating sand and dust stormsCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Conferences Coordination Within UN System Disaster Prevention International Days International Decades Sand Dunes Storms

Which reports were submitted under this mandate?

1 report of the Secretary-General submitted under this mandate, 2025.

2025A/80/265Combating sand and dust storms report of the Secretary-General

Identified automatically from the metadata in each report’s UN Digital Library catalogue record.

What does this mandate say?

26 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General;

Recognizes that sand and dust storms and the unsustainable land management, soil, agricultural and livestock practices, among other factors, that can cause or exacerbate these phenomena, including climate change, pose a serious challenge to the sustainable development of affected countries and regions, also recognizes that, in the past few years, sand and dust storms have inflicted substantial economic, social and environmental damage on the inhabitants of the world’s arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid areas, especially in Africa and Asia, and underscores the need to treat them and to promptly take measures to address those challenges;

Recalls the convening of a high-level interactive dialogue on sand and dust storms, held at Headquarters in New York on 16 July 2018, to discuss action-oriented recommendations and address the challenges faced by the affected countries, including ways to improve policy coordination at the global level to tackle those challenges in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, during which the continuing need to confront the challenges presented by sand and dust storms was highlighted;

Welcomes the efforts of the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, which is pursuing efforts, within its mandate and resources, to move to the implementation stage, and aims, inter alia, to promote and coordinate a collaborative United Nations system response to the growing issue of sand and dust storms on a local, national, regional and global scale, ensuring that unified and coherent action is taken, and to facilitate the capacity-building of Member States, raise their awareness and enhance their preparedness and response to sand and dust storms in critical regions;

Invites the Secretary-General to consider designating a relevant agency or entity with adequate capacity, by July 2025, to act as a focal point on sand and dust storms in the United Nations system to follow up the decisions in the relevant resolutions and the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms;

Recognizes the importance of new and innovative technologies and best practices in combating sand and dust storms, as well as their sharing and transfer on mutually agreed terms;

Encourages regional, subregional and interregional organizations and processes to continue to share best practices, policies, experiences and technical expertise promoting local, national, regional and global strategies in combating and preventing sand and dust storms to address the root causes and mitigate the impacts of sand and dust storms, and find sustainable solutions, including through improved implementation of sustainable land management, soil, agricultural and livestock practices, as well as sustainable water management, and to promote regional cooperation in this matter to reduce the risks and impact of future sand and dust storms at all levels, including local, national, regional and global, and to provide affected countries with capacity-building and technical support from the relevant United Nations organizations, such as the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Health Organization, within their respective mandates, to this end;

Takes note of the convening of the second International Conference on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, in Tehran on 9 and 10 September 2023;

Reiterates its request to the President of the General Assembly to convene, at the seventy-ninth session of the Assembly, a high-level meeting on sand and dust storms, through voluntary contributions and without duplication of effort, in collaboration with the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, to be held in the General Assembly Hall, at United Nations Headquarters in New York, in the context of the International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, and encourages the participation of countries at the highest level possible to discuss the challenges faced by affected countries to further practical actions at the regional and global levels;

Invites all affected Member States as well as relevant entities of the United Nations development system, regional organizations and other relevant stakeholders to endeavour to meet the objectives set out in the present resolution;

Takes note of the establishment of a regional and global trust fund for the West Asia and African region to combat sand and dust storms, supported by voluntary contributions from interested countries, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, major groups and other donors, the private sector, civil society and regional development banks, to undertake the implementation of regional and subregional programmes and action plans without prejudice to the possibility that this fund may include other regions in the future, while respecting international frameworks and any relevant documents on combating sand and dust storms to ensure coordinated action at a global scale;

Reaffirms that climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and, among other factors, is a serious challenge to the sustainable development of all countries, including those affected by sand and dust storms, and emphasizes that, among other factors, climate change is an important potential contributor to future wind erosion and the risk of sand and dust storms, especially the occurrence of more extreme wind events worsening drought conditions and the movement towards drier climates, although reverse effects are possible;

Recognizes that sand and dust storms cause numerous human health problems in different regions around the world, especially in arid, semi-arid and dry subhumid regions, and that there is a need to reinforce protective strategies to reduce the negative impacts of sand and dust storms on human health, invites the World Health Organization, with the cooperation of other relevant United Nations system entities, as appropriate, to support affected countries in combating health problems caused by sand and dust storms, within their respective mandates, recognizes the formation of a working group on sand and dust storms to discuss emerging issues and share information under the technical advisory group on global air pollution and health of the World Health Organization, and also recognizes the publication of a dedicated section on the health effects of sand and dust storms as part of the World Health Organization global air quality guidelines released in September 2021, and the development of standard operating procedures to assess and address the short-term health effects of desert dust by the World Health Organization, in collaboration with experts from the World Meteorological Organization;

Emphasizes that sand and dust storm issues will continue to constitute important components of the global coalition on health, environment and climate change launched in May 2018 by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization to improve coordination and reduce deaths that are attributed to environmental risks, such as air pollution;

Commends the United Nations Environment Assembly on its commitment to addressing sand and dust storms, and in this regard notes Environment Assembly resolution 2/21 on sand and dust storms, adopted during its second session, resolution 4/10 on innovation on biodiversity and land degradation, adopted during its fourth session, and resolution 6/7 on combating sand and dust storms, adopted during its sixth session;

Takes note of the convening of the regional ministerial meeting on environmental cooperation for a better future held in the Islamic Republic of Iran on 12 July 2022 to find solutions for regional environmental challenges, especially the issue of sand and dust storms;

Recalls the convening of the sixth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi from 26 February to 1 March 2024, under the theme “Effective, inclusive and sustainable multilateral actions to tackle climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution”, and looks forward to the seventh session of the Environment Assembly, to be held in Nairobi from 8 to 12 December 2025;

Commends the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, on its efforts to develop both a global base map of sand and dust storm sources, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization, and the Sand and Dust Storms Compendium: Information and Guidance on Assessing and Addressing the Risks, in collaboration with the Science-Policy Interface of the Convention and other relevant United Nations system entities, as a comprehensive collation of material designed to provide information and guidance on how to assess and address the risks posed by sand and dust storms and plan actions to combat their recurrence and impacts;

Also commends the World Meteorological Organization for achieving several improvements to the observation and modelling systems that are part of its Sand and Dust Storm Warning Advisory and Assessment System, which provides sand and dust storm forecasts for early warning systems in various countries, and encourages the strengthening of early warning systems and the exchange of weather information for predicting sand and dust storms, to better prepare vulnerable countries, and encourages the World Meteorological Organization and all relevant stakeholders to broaden the regional domains of this system to cover the highly affected regions and to continue to make technical improvements to it;

Welcomes the convening of the sixteenth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, in Saudi Arabia from 2 to 13 December 2024;

Encourages the relevant entities of the United Nations, including the World Health Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Meteorological Organization, the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Secretariat, within their respective mandates and resources, and donors to continue to provide capacity-building and technical assistance for combating and preventing sand and dust storms, and to continue to support the implementation of the national, regional and global action plans of the affected countries;

Recalls its resolution 77/294 of 8 June 2023, in which 12 July of each year was proclaimed as International Day of Combating Sand and Dust Storms, to further raise international awareness of sand and dust storms, and stresses the need for global and regional cooperation to manage and mitigate their effects;

Also recalls its resolution 78/314 of 10 July 2024, in which it proclaimed 2025–2034 the United Nations Decade on Combating Sand and Dust Storms, within existing structures and available resources, with the aim of enhancing international and regional cooperation and supporting and scaling up efforts to prevent, halt and mitigate the negative effects of sand and dust storms, especially on the affected countries;

Acknowledges the global assessment of sand and dust storms prepared by the United Nations Environment Programme in collaboration with other relevant United Nations system entities, including the World Meteorological Organization and the secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which sets out proposals for consolidated and coordinated technical and policy options for responding to sand and dust storms;

Requests the Secretary-General to further encourage the United Nations Coalition on Combating Sand and Dust Storms to conduct its priority activities as identified by the Coalition’s five working groups, which are knowledge-sharing, capacity-building, training, awareness-raising and support for the formulation of national, regional and interregional plans, to mitigate and prevent sand and dust storm hazards, to encourage the Coalition to enhance resource mobilization efforts so as to increase voluntary contributions to the Coalition and its member agencies, and invites the Coalition to consider the possibility of broadening the scope of the concept note to include other sectors affected by sand and dust storms, in order to align with the workplan of the Coalition;

Also requests the Secretary-General to submit to the General Assembly at its eightieth session a report on the implementation of the present resolution, while including best practices aimed at adapting, mitigating, controlling and combating sand and dust storms in collaboration with the affected nations and other countries, and decides to include in the provisional agenda of its eightieth session, under the item entitled “Sustainable development”, the sub-item entitled “Combating sand and dust storms”.

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What does this mandate say?

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