Governments are urged to conclude - by signing and ratifying, accepting, approving and/or United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, which entered into force on 26 December 1996, as soon as possible, and to support and actively participate in the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, which will be held in Rome in September 1997.

The international community is urged to recognize the vital importance and necessity of international cooperation and partnership in combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought. In order to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of existing financial mechanisms, the international community, in particular developed countries, should therefore support the global mechanism that would indeed have the capacity to promote actions leading to the mobilization and channeling of substantial resources for advancing the implementation of the Convention and its regional annexes, and to contribute to the eradication of poverty, which is one of the principal consequences of desertification and drought in the majority of affected countries. Another view considers that the international community, in particular developed countries, should provide new and additional resources towards the same ends. The transfer to developing countries of environmentally sound, economically viable and socially acceptable technologies relevant to combating desertification and/or mitigating the effects of drought, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas, should be undertaken without delay on mutually agreed terms.