A/RES/60/198 19. Also notes with appreciation the Framework Convention on the Protection and Sustainable Development of the Carpathians, 7 adopted and signed by the seven countries of the region to provide a framework for cooperation and multisectoral policy coordination, a platform for joint strategies for sustainable development and a forum for dialogue between all involved stakeholders; 20. Stresses the importance of capacity-building, institutional strengthening and educational programmes in order to foster sustainable mountain development at all levels and to enhance awareness of good practices in sustainable development in mountain regions and of the nature of relationships between highland and lowland areas; 21. Encourages the development and implementation of global, regional and national communication programmes to build on the awareness and momentum for change created by the International Year of Mountains and the opportunity provided annually by International Mountain Day on 11 December; 22. Also encourages Member States to collect and produce information and to establish databases devoted to mountains so as to capitalize on knowledge to support interdisciplinary research, programmes and projects and to improve decision-making and planning; 23. Further encourages all relevant entities of the United Nations system, within their respective mandates, to further enhance their constructive efforts to strengthen inter-agency collaboration to achieve more effective implementation of relevant chapters of Agenda 21,1 including chapter 13 and paragraph 42 and other relevant paragraphs of the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation,2 taking into account the inter-agency group on mountains and the need for the further involvement of the United Nations system, in particular the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the United Nations Environment Programme, the United Nations University, the United Nations Development Programme, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and the United Nations Children’s Fund, as well as international financial institutions and other relevant international organizations; 24. Recognizes the efforts of the Mountain Partnership implemented in accordance with Economic and Social Council resolution 2003/61 of 25 July 2003, invites the international community and other relevant stakeholders, including civil society and the private sector, to consider joining the Mountain Partnership, and invites the Partnership Secretariat to report on its activities and achievements to the fourteenth meeting of the Commission on Sustainable Development in 2006, including in regard to the thematic cluster issues of energy, climate change, air pollution and atmosphere and industrial development; 25. Notes with appreciation in this context the efforts of the Mountain Partnership to cooperate with existing multilateral instruments relevant to mountains, such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa, 8 the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 9 the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction _______________ 7 Available from www.carpathianconvention.org/text.htm. United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1954, No. 33480. 9 Ibid., vol. 1771, No. 30822. 8 4