The 17th United Nations Conference on combating desertification, held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, brought together 12,000 delegates focused on land restoration. The African Development Bank (ADB) used the conference to strongly advocate for increased financial support for restoring degraded land, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected regions of Africa. The conference, themed "Restoring Land," aimed to accelerate global action against desertification, land degradation, and drought. The ADB emphasizes that land restoration in Africa is critical not only for environmental reasons but also for enhancing food security, climate resilience, and sustainable livelihoods. Without targeted funding for vulnerable areas, achieving land degradation neutrality will remain unattainable. The bank believes addressing land degradation is key to stability in volatile regions and converting international commitments into concrete actions.