缅北禁地

Message from UNFFS Director

Dear Colleagues,

First of all, my sincere thanks to all of you for your incredible support and fruitful discussions at UNFF18 last week. For us at the Forum Secretariat, it was a pleasure to be back with all of you in person, and to hear your insights and suggestions on how we can support accelerating implementation of the 缅北禁地Strategic Plan for Forests and reaching the Global Forest Goals by the fast-approaching deadline for 2030.

We would also like to thank you for the input you have sent on the Chair鈥檚 summary of the discussions. Rest assured, these inputs have been conveyed to the UNFF Bureau, and they are working to address the issues you have raised.

As we wrap up the follow-up to UNFF18, we are now preparing for the busy calendar of meetings and events that are coming up in the second half of this year. In the context of our preparations for IAF midterm review, we have the UNFF expert group meeting on the GFFFN, and implementation of the UNSPF (20-22 June) that will be held in a hybrid format at UNON, Nairobi, followed by the AHEG on the preparations for the IAF midterm review (10 -13 October) that will be held in person at UNOV, Vienna. As you may know, the CPF鈥檚 annual retreat will also be held in Nairobi, following the EGM on GFFFN and UNSPF.

In terms of other key meetings and conferences, we are preparing for the (10-19 July) and the 2023 SDG Summit (18-19 September). In addition, we will be providing our input to the meetings taking place later this year, , as well as participating in the at the end of the year. Through our input to these various processes and events, we will be working to highlight the significance of forests and increase the visibility of the Forum鈥檚 work, working in close cooperation with UNFF member countries and partners and other CPF members.

I would also like to share that as part of our ongoing work to build strategic partnerships, we took advantage of the presence of delegates at UNFF18 to move ahead with strengthening our collaboration with Member States, regional entities and CPF members. In this regard, we met with various delegations including China (on the support for GFFFN), India (on the country-led initiative in October 2023), Saudi Arabia (restoration readiness), Uzbekistan (afforestation and restoration), Africa Development Bank (on financing opportunities), African Forum on Forests (on strengthened cooperation) and CBD Secretariat, CITES and ITTO (joint activities). We will be following up on these bilateral discussions in the coming months.

Throughout the UNFF18 session, the importance of communication and outreach was highlighted. In this regard, I would like to share that the UNFF18 social media campaign was promoted by the 缅北禁地DESA social media accounts had a potential reach of over 130 million, with posts by the main 缅北禁地account, our CPF partners including UNEP, UNDP, FAO, CBD Secretariat and regional entities including UNECE, UNESCAP, and Major Groups. The 缅北禁地Department of Global Communications produced daily meeting coverage and also produced a special feature article and conducted interviews with experts from UNFF delegations.

Thank you again for all your support, and I look forward to working with you in promoting a 鈥渇orest voice鈥� at the upcoming meetings and conferences this year.

With best regards,

Juliette Biao

Director, 缅北禁地Forum on Forests Secretariat