At its thirty-second session, the General Assembly, by paragraph 13 of its resolution 32/172 of 19 December 1977, invited the Governing Council of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to have prepared, by a small group of high-level specialists in the international financing of projects and programmes, a study of additional measures and means of financing for the implementation of the Plan of Action to Combat Desertification, and to submit a final report on the subject of additional measures of financing to the Assembly at its thirty-third session, through the Economic and Social Council.

The Executive Director transmitted the study to the Governing Council of UNEP at its sixth session held in May 1978 at Nairobi. The Governing Council adopted decision 6/11, in which it, inter alia, took note of the study prepared bv the group of specialists; decided to submit the study to the General Assembly at its thirty-third session, together with an extract of the report of the Governing Council which reflected the differing views which had been expressed in the Council on this matter; and invited the General Assembly to request the Secretary-General to solicit the views of Governments and report on the results to the Assembly at its thirty-fourth session.