A/RES/60/200 GA

United Nations A/RES/60/200 General Assembly Distr.: General 8 March 2006 Sixtieth session Agenda item 52 (g) 05-49960 Resolution adopted by the General Assembly on 22 December 2005 [on the report of the Second Committee (A/60/488/Add.7)] 60/200. International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006 The General Assembly, Recalling its resolution 58/211 of 23 December 2003, in which it declared 2006 the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, Taking note of the decision of the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, held in Nairobi from 17 to 28 October 2005, on the celebration of the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006,1 Deeply concerned by the exacerbation of desertification in all regions of the world, particularly in Africa, and its far-reaching implications for the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals, in particular on poverty eradication, Deeply concerned also at the extensive destruction by Israel, the occupying Power, of agricultural land and orchards in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the uprooting of a vast number of fruit-bearing trees, Conscious of the need to raise public awareness and to protect the biological diversity of deserts as well as indigenous and local communities and the traditional knowledge of those affected by this phenomenon, Welcoming the decision of the Government of Algeria to convene and host an international conference with the participation of Heads of State and Government, dedicated to the protection of deserts and to combating desertification, in October 2006, Welcoming also the decision of the Government of Israel to host, in cooperation with other stakeholders, an international conference entitled “Deserts and Desertification: Challenges and Opportunities” in Be’er Sheva, Israel, in November 2006, Taking note of the report of the Secretary-General on the status of preparations for the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006,2 _______________ 1 See ICCD/COP(7)/13, paras. 4–7. 2 A/60/169. A/RES/60/200 2 1. Welcomes the nomination of United Nations honorary spokespersons for the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, and encourages the Secretary- General to nominate additional personalities in that respect so as to promote a successful celebration of the Year worldwide; 2. Reiterates its call upon Member States and all relevant international organizations to support the activities related to desertification, including land degradation, to be organized by affected countries, in particular African countries and the least developed countries; 3. Encourages countries to contribute, as they are able, to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa 3 and to undertake special initiatives in observance of the Year with the goal of enhancing the implementation of the Convention; 4. Invites Member States to make voluntary contributions to the Special Fund of the Convention in order to achieve the objectives of resolution 58/211 entitled “International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006”; 5. Invites Governments and all relevant stakeholders that have not yet done so to inform the secretariat for the Convention of activities envisaged for the observance of the Year; 6. Requests the Executive Secretary of the Convention to make available to the parties to the Convention and to observers a consolidated list of all activities reported, including lessons learned and best practices, in order to coordinate information and avoid overlapping of activities; 7. Notes with interest the decision of the Council of the Global Environment Facility to support, within its mandate, activities undertaken by affected developing countries parties to the Convention within the framework of the Year; 8. Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its sixty-second session on the celebration of the Year. 68th plenary meeting 22 December 2005 _______________ 3 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1954, No. 33480.

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