A/RES/55/214 the outcome of the forty-seventh session of the Trade and Development Board on the preparatory process of the Conference, 7 Taking note also of The Least Developed Countries 2000 Report, 8 1. Recalls that the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries will convene from 14 to 20 May 2001 and will be hosted by the European Union at Brussels; 2. Decides, in the light of the recommendation of the Intergovernmental Preparatory Committee for the Conference at its first session, to convene, within existing resources, the second session of the Committee from 5 to 9 February 2001 in New York, at which the Committee will undertake the first formal reading of the draft programme of action and consider other relevant matters, while noting that the final session of the Committee will be held in New York from 2 to 6 April 2001; 3. Requests the Secretary-General of the United Nations to defray the cost of participation of two government representatives from each least developed country in the second and final sessions of the Preparatory Committee through the use of extrabudgetary resources, and also requests that the Bureau of the Preparatory Committee keep the matter under regular review on the basis of information provided by the Secretary-General of the Conference; 4. Notes that sufficient extrabudgetary resources will need to be mobilized to defray the cost of participation of the least developed countries in the third session of the Preparatory Committee, and, in this regard, invites additional contributions from multilateral and bilateral donors, and requests the SecretaryGeneral of the Conference to seek funding from all possible sources for this purpose; 5. Welcomes the contributions already made by multilateral and bilateral donors for the participation of representatives from the least developed countries in the sessions of the Preparatory Committee and in the Conference; 6. Emphasizes the importance of the effective participation of all relevant stakeholders from the least developed countries and their development partners, as well as of the organizations and bodies of the United Nations system and other relevant multilateral organizations; 7. Recognizes the importance of the contribution of civil society actors at the Conference and its preparatory process, stresses, in this regard, the need for their active participation, including those from the least developed countries, and invites donors to make appropriate contributions for that purpose; 8. Invites the participation in the Conference and in its preparatory process of (a) the relevant non-governmental organizations that are in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council in accordance with Council resolution 1996/31 of 25 July 1996, (b) the non-governmental organizations that were accredited to the Second United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, held from 3 to 14 September 1990 and (c) the non-governmental organizations that are in consultative status with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, decides that the accreditation of other interested civil 7 See A/55/15. For the final text, see Official Records of the General Assembly, Fifty-fifth Session, Supplement No. 15. 8 United Nations publication, Sales No. E.00.II.D.21. 2