A/RES/49/22 Page 4 8. Expresses its gratitude to the members of the Special High-Level Council for the Decade for their contribution during the first half of the Decade, and invites the Secretary-General to strengthen the Council on the basis of the experience gained so far by revising its objectives, functions and composition, as follows: (a) It should effectively promote public awareness; (b) It should increase private-sector involvement; (c) Decade; It should continue to provide overall advice with respect to the It should provide substantive support for the formulation of the (d) Decade policies and for the management of the Trust Fund for the Decade; (e) It should ensure adequate cooperation and coordination between beneficiaries, donors and the United Nations system in the process of implementing the Decade; Its membership should be based on equitable geographical and (f) sectoral representation; 9. Commends the Scientific and Technical Committee on the Decade for the work accomplished during the first half of the Decade, and encourages the Committee to continue its support for Decade activities, rotating one third of its membership every year; 10. Also commends the efforts of national committees and focal points for the Decade in raising the profile of disaster reduction activities at the national level, encourages them to continue in their efforts, and urges those Member States that have not yet done so to establish national committees or focal points; 11. Expresses its deep appreciation to those countries that have generously provided financial and technical support for Decade activities; 12. Calls upon the Secretary-General to ensure that the UnderSecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs continues to bring closer together the operational and promotional efforts in disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness, particularly those activities implemented by the United Nations humanitarian and development agencies, thus paving the way for successful attainment of the goals and objectives of the Decade; 13. Invites the Secretary-General to make the Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World and its Plan of Action available to forthcoming conferences concerned with development issues for their consideration as appropriate; 14. Invites the Secretary-General, therefore, to ensure the effective implementation of the Yokohama Strategy for a Safer World, in particular its Plan of Action, inter alia, through the closest possible cooperation and synergy between the secretariat of the Decade and those entities of the Department of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat relating to disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness; /...