Another view was that the international community, in particular developed countries, should provide new and additional resources towards the same ends. The Commission notes that some 1 billion people live in the rural areas of the world's drylands, which constitute one third of the land on Earth. They are at risk, and more than 100 million are already significantly affected and face having to abandon their lands and migrate. These figures are all the more alarming in Africa, where the affected countries rank among the poorest and least developed in the world. Desertification and drought are closely interlinked with other issues such as loss of biodiversity, food security, population growth, poverty, climate change, water resources, deforestation, resource consumption patterns, deterioration of terms of trade, economics and, especially, social and cultural issues.
Desertification is a social and economic as well as an environmental problem.
Drought and land degradation can occur in most climatic zones, affecting a large number of people. The Commission emphasizes the need to take action on the effects of drought and to recognize that land degradation also occurs in sub-humid and humid regions. Within the context of food security, combating desertification and mitigating the effects of drought take on particular significance. Implementation of the programme areas of Agenda 21 should be carried out within the context of the Convention, including its regional implementation annexes. The Commission urges Governments and intergovernmental organizations to give strong political support to the first session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention, to be held once the Convention has been ratified by at least 50 countries, and to support fully the work of the interim secretariat in preparing for the first meeting of the Conference of Parties.