UN General Assembly
2007

special programme launched by the President of the Republic, has allowed us to achieve spectacular successes that deserve to be consolidated and strengthened. Thanks to the work to restore degraded soil, remove sand and reforest the landscape undertaken over the past few years and stepped up in the framework of that programme, 3 million hectares have been reclaimed from the desert, according to satellite monitoring undertaken in 2006 and transmitted by the regional Agrimet centre. Large expanses that were desperately arid have now become productive agricultural areas and pasture land thanks to water- retention and infiltration activities that have raised the water table. It is worth noting that such activities are being carried out by several thousand young people being paid through a cash-for-work programme. The public debate in the Security Council and the thematic debate in the General Assembly dedicated to climate change highlighted the scope and gravity of the phenomenon by emphasizing the need for urgent collective action. The eloquent statements made at the high-level meeting organized by the Secretary-General