A/RES/59/176 17. Expresses its satisfaction at the number of States that have ratified or acceded to the Convention, which now stands at one hundred and seventy; 18. Urges States parties to comply fully with their obligations under the Convention and to take into consideration the concluding observations and general recommendations of the Committee; 19. Reaffirms its conviction that ratification of or accession to the Convention on a universal basis and the implementation of its provisions are necessary for the effectiveness of the fight against racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance and for the implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action; 20. Urges all States that have not yet become parties to the Convention to ratify or accede to it as a matter of urgency, with a view to achieving universal ratification by 2005; 21. Urges States to limit the extent of any reservation they lodge to the Convention and to formulate any reservation as precisely and as narrowly as possible in order to ensure that no reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention, to review their reservations on a regular basis with a view to withdrawing them, and to withdraw reservations that are contrary to the object and purpose of the Convention; 22. Notes that the number of States parties to the Convention that have made the declaration provided for in article 14 of the Convention now stands at forty-five, and requests the States parties that have not yet done so to consider making that declaration; 23. Decides to consider, at its sixty-first session, under the item entitled “Elimination of racism and racial discrimination”, the reports of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on its sixty-sixth and sixty-seventh and its sixty-eighth and sixty-ninth sessions, the report of the Secretary-General on the financial situation of the Committee and the report of the Secretary-General on the status of the Convention. 74th plenary meeting 20 December 2004 4