View the finalists below:

Finalists 15 to 18 years of age category:

Plants Shall Survive! by Malak Boftain	Degradation of soil in the Arab World !! by Hadi Bassal	Cracks From Time by Mirna Raslan	Desertification by Malak Al-Manee

Finalists 19 to 30 years of age category:

Our land is calling... Time to act by Youmna Hammoud	االتربة, حياة تحت أقدامنا by Perla Hayek	حلوة خضرا by juliette Amidi	world after 40 years ! by Bilal Ghamrawi

This challenge aims to motivate Arab youth to become the generation which will stop and reverse land degradation. The finalists will be presented during the 2021 Desertification and Drought Day celebrations. #GenerationRestoration #LandDegradation

The problem in the Arab region and globally

Land degradation is a threat to development, livelihoods and quality of life all over the world and particularly in the Arab region where it translates into desertification given the prevailing aridity.

The leading driver of land degradation in the Arab region is the unsustainability of the current production and consumption patterns, which include, among others, over-exploitation (farming, grazing, etc.), urban expansion, pollution or mining and are compounded by population growth. The situation is likely to worsen in the face of climate change, which is expected to increase aridity, water scarcity and weather-related disasters further hastening the degradation of the region’s fragile lands. Learn more about the problems and get ideas for solutions.

It is your time to act

The 2021 Desertification and Drought Day (14 June, 2021), will focus on restoring degraded land into healthy soils through the theme “Restoration. Land. Recovery. We build back better through healthy land.”

Building back better calls for maintaining or increasing the amount and quality of the productive land, which is a necessity in the Arab region where land is being lost rapidly and irremediably.

Restoring or recovering degraded land is not only the responsibility of farmers or other land stakeholders but of everybody and especially the Arab youth as rising agents of change and future leaders who are more likely to appeal and guide their peers while bridging the intergenerational gap.

Your challenge is to make a video, 2 to 3 minutes long, providing a simple but appealing message to either describe the problem or ways to address the issue or a combination of both. The video can be a monologue, a poem, a comedy, a play, a song, a game, an interview or a short movie or documentary. Videos in Arabic, English and French are welcome.

The challenge is open to adolescent and young adults between 15 and 30 years of age.

You will be able to edit and change your idea description until the video submission deadline by 30 April, 2021.

Timeline and Phases (all times are in Beirut, Lebanon time zone)

• 31 March 2021: Deadline to register your idea. The whole world including the evaluators can read the description of your idea and can ‘like’ and comment on it.
• 30 April 2021: Deadline for submitting your video. The whole world can see your video and can ‘like’ and comment on it.
• 10 May 2021: Review panel announces a short list of finalists.
• From 10 May to 30 May: Finalists have the opportunity to enhance their videos.
• From 31 May to 14 June: General public can show their support to their favorite finalist videos by voting on the website. The review panel selects the winner based on their criteria and in consideration of the public vote.

Please read the Rules & Background carefully to ensure that you are eligible to apply and read more about preparing your submission.