Renewed commitment and support from the international community is essential to support national efforts for capacity- building in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.

The United Nations Development Programme, inter alia, through its Capacity 21 programme, should give priority attention to building capacity for the elaboration of sustainable development strategies based on participatory approaches. In this context, developing countries should be assisted, particularly in the areas of the design, implementation and evaluation of programmes and projects.

Capacity-building efforts should pay particular attention to the ? needs of women in order to ensure that their skills and experience   | are fully used in decision-making at all levels. The special needs, culture, traditions and expertise of indigenous people must be recognized. International financial institutions should continue to give high priority to funding capacity-building for sustainable development in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Special attention should also be given to strengthening the ability of developing countries to absorb and generate technologies. International cooperation needs to be strengthened to promote the endogenous capacity of developing countries to utilize scientific and technological developments from abroad and to adapt them to local conditions. The role of the private sector in capacity-building should be further promoted and enhanced. South-South cooperation in capacity-building should be further supported through "triangular" cooperative arrangements. Both developed and developing countries, in cooperation with relevant international institutions, need to strengthen their efforts to develop and implement strategies for more effective sharing of environmental expertise and data.