A/RES/55/65 initiatives, and emphasizes the importance of subregional, regional and international cooperation in countering illicit drug trafficking; 10. Reaffirms that preventing the diversion of chemicals from legitimate commerce to illicit drug manufacture is an essential component of a comprehensive strategy against drug abuse and trafficking, which requires the effective cooperation of exporting, importing and transit States, notes the progress made in developing practical guidelines to prevent such diversion of chemicals, including those of the International Narcotics Control Board and the recommendations on implementing article 12 of the 1988 Convention, and calls upon all States to adopt and implement measures to prevent the diversion of chemicals to illicit drug manufacture, in cooperation with competent international and regional bodies and, if necessary and to the extent possible, with the private sector in each State, in accordance with the objectives targeted for 2003 and 2008 in the Political Declaration1 and the resolution on the control of precursors adopted at the special session; 13 11. Calls upon States in which cultivation and production of illicit drug crops occur to establish or reinforce, where appropriate, national mechanisms to monitor and verify illicit crops, and requests the Executive Director of the United Nations International Drug Control Programme to report to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its forty-fourth session, in March 2001, on the follow-up to the Action Plan on International Cooperation on the Eradication of Illicit Drug Crops and on Alternative Development; 12. Calls upon all States to report biennially to the Commission on Narcotic Drugs on their efforts to meet the goals and targets for 2003 and 2008, as set out in the Political Declaration adopted at the special session, in accordance with the terms established in the guidelines adopted by the Commission on Narcotic Drugs at its reconvened forty-second session;5 13. Welcomes the decision of the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to submit a report to the General Assembly in 2003 and 2008 18 on the progress achieved in meeting the goals and targets set out in the Political Declaration; 14. Encourages the Commission on Narcotic Drugs and the International Narcotics Control Board to continue their useful work on the control of precursors and other chemicals used in the illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs and psychotropic substances; 15. Calls upon the Commission on Narcotic Drugs to mainstream a gender perspective into all its policies, programmes and activities, and requests the Secretariat to integrate a gender perspective into all documentation prepared for the Commission; 16. Recalls the World Programme of Action for Youth to the Year 2000 and Beyond adopted by the General Assembly on 14 December 1995, 19 notes with satisfaction the commitment of young people to a drug-free society made at various forums, and stresses the importance of young people continuing to contribute their experiences and to participate in the decision-making processes and, in particular, putting into effect the Action Plan for the Implementation of the Declaration on the Guiding Principles of Drug Demand Reduction; 18 Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, 1999, Supplement No. 8 (E/1999/28/Rev.1), part two, chap. I, resolution 42/11, para. 8. 19 Resolution 50/81, annex. 6