A/RES/57/141 37. Calls upon States and international financial institutions, including through bilateral, regional and international cooperation programmes and technical partnerships, to continue to strengthen capacity-building activities, in particular in developing countries, in the field of marine scientific research by, inter alia, training the necessary skilled personnel, providing the necessary equipment, facilities and vessels, and transferring environmentally sound technologies; 38. Calls upon the United Nations Environment Programme, working within the Global Resource Information Database (GRID) system for data and information management, to expand on a voluntary basis the capacity of existing GRID centres to store and handle research data from the outer continental margin, on a basis to be mutually agreed with the coastal State, and complementary to existing regional data centres, giving due regard to confidentiality needs and in accordance with Part XIII of the Convention, and making use of existing data management mechanisms under the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the International Hydrographic Organization, with a view to serving the needs of coastal States, and in particular developing countries and small island developing States, in their compliance with article 76 of the Convention; 39. Encourages States to assist developing States, and especially least developed States and small island developing States, on a bilateral and, where appropriate, regional level, in the preparation of submissions to the Commission, including the assessment of the nature of the continental shelf of a coastal State made in the form of a desktop study, and the mapping of the outer limits of its continental shelf; 40. Requests the Secretary-General to compile in a uniform format a directory of sources of training, advice and expertise and technological services, including relevant institutions and other sources of technical information and practice, which may contribute to the preparation of such submissions, to be available to Member States and to be posted on the web site of the Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea of the Secretariat, bearing in mind that an entry in the directory would not imply official endorsement by the Secretariat of any such sources; XI. Marine environment, marine resources and sustainable development 41. Emphasizes once again the importance of the implementation of Part XII of the Convention in order to protect and preserve the marine environment and its living marine resources against pollution and physical degradation, and calls upon all States to cooperate and take measures, directly or through competent international organizations, for the protection and preservation of the marine environment; 42. Calls upon States to continue to prioritize action on marine pollution from land-based sources as part of their national sustainable development strategies and programmes, in an integrated and inclusive manner, as a means of implementing the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities; 17 43. Also calls upon States to advance the implementation of the Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land- _______________ 17 8 A/51/116, annex II.