Liesl works as an independent international consultant in agricultural science and policy, based in South Africa. With a PhD in soil science, her technical focus is on sustainable soil and land management and soil organic carbon to improve soil health, support sustainable food production, build agricultural resilience to climate change, and achieve relevant Sustainable Development Goals. Liesl spent the first 10 years of her career as soil science researcher at the South African Agricultural Research Council, focusing on land degradation and soil organic carbon assessment. Her consulting career started with 2 years (2016-2017) as member of the FAO Global Soil Partnership Secretariat in Rome, Italy, where she supported activities under the African and Eurasian Soil Partnerships. Working independently since 2018, Liesl has developed particular interest in connecting people and ideas to leverage synergies and simplify solutions across institutions and Conventions to support increased sustainable land management and soil health at scale. 

Dr Leigh Ann Winowiecki is the CIFOR-ICRAF Soil and Land Health Global Research Lead. A soil scientist, her research focuses on scaling farmer-centered landscape restoration and understanding soil organic carbon dynamics. She is based in Nairobi, Kenya. Since 2009 she has co-developed and implemented the Land Degradation Surveillance Framework (LDSF) in over 40 countries to assess ecosystem health. She has published widely on soil organic carbon, ecosystem services and land degradation across sub-Saharan Africa and the tropics, including a coherent set of open access datasets. She co-leads the Coalition of Action 4 Soil Health (CA4SH) from the UNFSS, which aims to catalyze investments in soil health for human well-being and climate.

Alisher Mirzabaev is an Acting Professor of Production Economics at Institute of Food and Resource Economics (ILR), University of Bonn. Before joining ILR, he was a senior researcher at the Center for Development Research (ZEF), University of Bonn. Before that, he worked as an economist with the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). Dr. Mirzabaev was a Coordinating Lead Author of the Chapter on Desertification of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change and Land. He was a lead researcher in several international projects with both global and regional focus on Africa and Asia. He has a PhD Degree and professorial Habilitation in Agricultural Economics from the University of Bonn. His research interests include economics of land degradation and ecosystem restoration, climate change impacts and adaptation, and water-energy-food security nexus.

Ildephonse Musafiri is a senior economist with more than 17 years of proven experience. Currently, he works as Executive Director of the Strategy and Policy Council (SPC) in the Office of the President. He also serves as Board Director of the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) since April 2018. In addition,  is an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Rwanda, College of Business and Economics, where he previously served as Lecturer and Head of the Economics Department. His research focuses on development economics and policy, particularly the analysis of poverty and inequality, economic growth, agricultural and food policy, climate change and environmental sustainability. Earlier in his career, he worked for World Vision Rwanda as a Community Capacity Strengthening Officer. Dr Musafiri earned his Ph.D. in agricultural economics from the University of Bonn (Germany) and an M.Sc. in applied economics from the University of Rwanda. He is fluent in English, French, and Kinyarwanda, and has a working knowledge of German.

Ms. Miriam Medel Garcia is the Chief of External Relations, Policy and Advocacy at the UNCCD Secretariat, with more than 20 years of experience in the fields of diplomacy, international relations, multilateralism and sustainable development. Prior to joining the UNCCD last October, she served at the UNFCCC Secretariat, as Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary. Previously, she was the Political Attaché of Mexico to Germany and has held several positions as a Mexican diplomat and multilateral negotiator, where she acquired vast experience developing successful partnerships for sustainability action at the most senior bilateral and multilateral international levels.  She holds a master’s degree in International Affairs from Carleton University in Canada and a bachelor’s in International Relations from the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, where she has also taught and researched in the areas of multilateralism and international cooperation for development.

Motsomi leads the LDC Expert Group (LEG) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) Unit of the UNFCCC secretariat, responsible for overall support to the least developed countries and the formulation and implementation of NAPs. He is also leading the Adaptation Committee Unit, responsible for supporting the committee’s work in promoting the implementation of enhanced action on adaptation in a coherent manner under the Convention and the Paris Agreement. Motsomi coordinates UNFCCC secretariat’s engagement in the UN Food Systems Summit follow up activities including through the Climate Resilient Food Systems Alliance. He engages in various international processes and networks including the UN wide support to the LDCs and landlocked developing countries; and the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) initiative. Prior to joining the secretariat, Motsomi worked for the Government of Lesotho with leadership roles in climate change policy and implementation.

Dr Jamal Annagylyjova is a staff of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity where she leads the programme on terrestrial ecosystems and restoration. She started as a researcher in the National Institute of Deserts, Flora and Fauna of Turkmenistan where she spent nearly 10 years on applied research of dryland ecosystems combined with the development activities with GIZ, FAO, UNDP and other agencies. Since 2007, at the multi-country Secrtariat of the Central Asian Countries Initiative for Land Management led by Asian Development Bank Jamal monitored portfolio of 11 national and regional projects. During 2011-2021, Ms. Annagylyjova is the Regional Coordinator for Central and Eastern Europe in the Secretariat of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification where she supports more than twenty countries in intergovernmental negotiations.

She is an author of several publications related to land degradation, desert ecology and water resources in Turkmenistan and Central Asia.  Jamal holds a Doctoral degree in Physical Geography from University of Cologne.

Martina Fleckenstein is the Global Policy Manager of the Food Practice for WWF International. Martina has over 25 years of experience in national and international environment and development policies, based on a board knowledge on implementation of agriculture and sustainable food production projects in different geographies.