In 1994, the United Nations General Assembly declared June 17 the "World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought" to promote public awareness and the implementation of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in Those Countries Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa. As the 16th and 17th sessions of the third implementation cycle of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) will focus on the issues of Agriculture, Rural development, Land, Drought, Desertification, and Africa, the UNCCD Secretariat would like to propose that this year’s celebration of 17 of June be focused around the themes of Combating Land Degradation for Sustainable Agriculture. This will certainly constitute a concrete way to support the discussions of the 16th and 17th sessions and provide useful inputs that could be brought to the attention of the CSD, in the current cycle. The Convention is an internationally recognized, legally binding instrument that addresses the problem of land degradation in dry land. It has membership of 193 Parties Country Parties, organizations of the United Nations System, international and non-governmental organizations are invited to organize events to celebrate the World Day to Combat Desertification as an additional opportunity to increase awareness and participation in the implementation process. __Principles__ In order to achieve the objective of this Convention and to implement its provisions, the Parties shall be guided, inter alia, by the following: (a) The Parties should ensure that decisions on the design and implementation of programmes to combat desertification and/or mitigate the effects of drought are taken with the participation of populations and local communities and that an enabling environment is created at higher levels to facilitate action at national and local levels; (b) The Parties should, in a spirit of international solidarity and partnership, improve cooperation and coordination at sub-regional, regional and international levels, and better focus financial, human, organizational and technical resources where they are needed; (c) The Parties should develop, in a spirit of partnership, cooperation among all levels of government, communities, non-governmental organizations and landholders to establish a better understanding of the nature and value of land and scarce water resources in affected areas and to work towards their sustainable use; and (d) The Parties should take into full consideration the special needs and circumstances of affected developing country Parties, particularly the least developed among them. __Objectives__ The objective of this Convention is to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of drought in countries experiencing serious drought and/or desertification, particularly in Africa, through effective action at all levels, supported by international cooperation and partnership arrangements, in the framework of an integrated approach which is consistent with Agenda 21, with a view to contributing to the achievement of sustainable development in affected areas. Achieving this objective will involve long-term integrated strategies that focus simultaneously, in affected areas, on improved productivity of land, and the rehabilitation, conservation and sustainable management of land and water resources, leading to improved living conditions, in particular at the community level.