A/RES/57/194 5. Also requests the Secretary-General to invite those States parties to the Convention that are in arrears to pay the amounts in arrears, and to report thereon to the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth session; III Status of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 1. Takes note of the report of the Secretary-General 9 on the status of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination;1 2. Expresses its satisfaction at the number of States that have ratified the Convention or acceded thereto, which now stands at one hundred and sixty-five; 3. Reaffirms once again its conviction that ratification of or accession to the Convention on a universal basis and the implementation of its provisions are necessary for the realization of the objectives of the Third Decade to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination and for the implementation of the commitments undertaken under the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance;3 4. Urges all States that have not yet become parties to the Convention to ratify it or accede to it as a matter of urgency, with a view to achieving universal ratification by 2005; 5. 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 so as to ensure that no reservation is incompatible with the object and purpose of the Convention or otherwise contrary to international treaty law, 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 or that are otherwise incompatible with international treaty law; 6. Requests the States parties to the Convention that have not yet done so to consider making the declaration provided for in article 14 of the Convention; 7. Decides to consider, at its fifty-ninth 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-second and sixty-third and its sixty-fourth and sixty-fifth 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. 77th plenary meeting 18 December 2002 _______________ 9 4 A/57/334.