Desertification affects arid regions throughout the world, causing underdevelopment of national economies and inflicting destitution on the populations of vast areas and threatening them with famine.
Continued environmental degradation and the related effects, such as unemployment, poverty and migration, often directly affect the youth.
The main objective of the conference is to encourage political establishments and governments of the countries most affected by desertification and land degradation to give priority to creating youth employment as a matter of national urgency, with job creation mainstreamed into macroeconomic and sectoral (agriculture, industry, services and labour) policies, by offering concrete cases of challenges and opportunities for youth in drylands.