The Global Mechanism is an institution of the UNCCD, mandated to assist countries in the mobilization of financial resources from the public and private sector for activities that prevent, control or reverse desertification, land degradation and drought. As the operational arm of the convention, the Global Mechanism supports countries to translate the Convention into action. In September 2015, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, including goal 15, which aims to “protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss”. As main expected results it defines under target 15.3 to “combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world” by 2030.

In October 2015, the 12th session of the Conference of Parties (COP) of the UNCCD defined Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) and endorsed the concept as a strong vehicle for the implementation of the Convention. Subsequently, in September 2017, the 13th session of the COP emphasized the critical role of LDN Transformative Projects and Programmes (TPP) for the implementation of the Convention. This has been reaffirmed at the 14th session of the COP in New Delhi in September 2019. Within this framework, Togo requested support from the Global Mechanism of UNCCD to design a gender responsive LDN transformative project using its GEF STAR allocation in partnership with UNDP, as the GEF implementing agency. The GEF Project Identification Form (PIF) supported through the partnership was submitted to the GEF Secretariat and approved for funding on 3rd June 2020 by the GEF Council.

Subsequently, the Global Mechanism is supporting the development of the full Project Document to compliment the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) which is being led by UNDP, by recruiting a national  consultant / gender specialist, to ensure that the project promotes gender equality in a significant and consistent way.