A/RES/56/196 2. Welcomes the outcome of the fourth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, particularly in Africa, in particular the adoption of the Declaration on the Commitments to Enhance the Implementation of the Obligations under the Convention;3 3. Parties; Also welcomes the outcome of the fifth session of the Conference of the 4. Notes the establishment of the Committee for the Review of the Implementation of the Convention as a subsidiary body of the Conference of the Parties, and invites parties and other actors to participate in the first session of the Committee, which shall be held at Bonn, Germany, from 18 to 29 November 2002, in accordance with Conference of the Parties decision 2/COP.5 of 12 October 2001; 4 5. Also notes that the mandate and functions of the Committee shall be subject to renewal at the seventh session of the Conference of the Parties, in the light of lessons learned during the overall review of the Committee;5 6. Encourages the conferences of the parties to and the secretariats of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, 6 the Convention on Biological Diversity, 7 the Convention to Combat Desertification and other international instruments related to environment and sustainable development, as well as relevant organizations, especially the United Nations Environment Programme, with, as appropriate, the involvement of the Environmental Management Group, to continue their work on enhancing mutual complementarities, with full respect for the status of the secretariats of the conventions and the autonomous decision-making prerogatives of the conferences of the parties to the conventions concerned, to strengthen cooperation with a view to facilitating progress in the implementation of those conventions at the international, regional and national levels and to report thereon to their respective conferences of the parties; 7. Welcomes the decision of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification to submit to the preparatory process of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, as inputs, the Chairman’s summary of the Ministerial and High-level Interactive Dialogue sessions held at the fifth session of the Conference of the Parties, including the challenges of and opportunities in combating desertification, controlling land degradation and mitigating the effects of drought in affected developing countries, as well as those relating to financial resources and achieving sustainable development, 8 and the comprehensive report of the Ad Hoc Working Group for the in-depth review and analysis of reports submitted at the third and fourth sessions of the Conference of the Parties;9 8. Also welcomes the decision taken by the Council of the Global Environment Facility, under item 7 of the agenda of its meeting in December 2001, _______________ 3 ICCD/COP(4)/11/Add.1, decision 8/COP.4, annex. See ICCD/COP (5)/11/Add.1. 5 Ibid., decision 1/COP.5, para. 3. 6 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1771, No. 30822. 7 See United Nations Environment Programme, Convention on Biological Diversity (Environmental Law and Institution Programme Activity Centre), June 1992. 8 ICCD/COP(5)/11/Add.1, decision 8/COP.5, annex. 9 Ibid., decision 3/COP.5, annex. 4 2