The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) civil society panel was established by the Conference of the Parties (COP) in 2011 to bring together the civil society community involved in the Convention.

The five members from each of 5 regional groupings of the nations of the world, democratically elected by the observer organizations for a two year-period, have been mandated to liaise with their constituencies and bring the voices of the civil society to the negotiations of the convention, to facilitate the coordination among the accredited CSOs and to ensure an efficient communication on issues related to desertification, land degradation and drought.