At its thirty-third session, the General Assembly, by its resolution 33/89 of 15 December 19,8, took note of the report of the Secretary-General on the studY of additional measures and means of financing for the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification (A/33/260) and requested the Secretary-General to solicit views of Governments concerning this study and to report on the results to the General Assenilily at its thirty-fourth session.

The question of the additional measures and means of financing for the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification "as originally raised at the IJnited Nations Conference on Desertification in September 1977.

The immediate goal of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, as adopted by the United Nations Conference on Desertification and approved by the General Assembly in its resolution 32/172, is to prevent and to arrest the advance
of desertification and, where possible, to reclaim desertified land for productive use.