Dhar appointed for Chair of UN's desertification body

Hyderabad, Sep 12 (UNI) ICRISAT Director General William D Dar has been appointed by the Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as the new Chair of its Committee for Science and Technology.

Nominated by the group of Asian states, Dr Dar was elected during the opening day of the eighth COP session in Madrid, Spain, last week, a release from the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) said.

In his opening statement, Dr Dar urged the body to be ''demand-driven, based on open and transparent consultations with as wide a range of stakeholders as possible''.

He also emphasised that the committee ''breathe new intellectual life by opening our doors to the best brains we can find anywhere in the world, and to those at the grassroots and on the front lines of sustainable dryland development''.

The Committee for Science and Technology would advise the UNCCD on all scientific issues relating to its mission on desertification, land degradation and drought.

UNI