A/RES/60/200 1. Welcomes the nomination of United Nations honorary spokespersons for the International Year of Deserts and Desertification, and encourages the SecretaryGeneral to nominate additional personalities in that respect so as to promote a successful celebration of the Year worldwide; Reiterates its call upon Member States and all relevant international 2. 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; Encourages countries to contribute, as they are able, to the United 3. 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; Invites Member States to make voluntary contributions to the Special 4. Fund of the Convention in order to achieve the objectives of resolution 58/211 entitled “International Year of Deserts and Desertification, 2006”; Invites Governments and all relevant stakeholders that have not yet done 5. so to inform the secretariat for the Convention of activities envisaged for the observance of the Year; Requests the Executive Secretary of the Convention to make available to 6. 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; Notes with interest the decision of the Council of the Global 7. Environment Facility to support, within its mandate, activities undertaken by affected developing countries parties to the Convention within the framework of the Year; Requests the Secretary-General to report to the General Assembly at its 8. sixty-second session on the celebration of the Year. 68th plenary meeting 22 December 2005 _______________ 3 2 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1954, No. 33480.