objective -- to set up a comprehensive new legal regime for the sea
and oceans; to include rules concerning environmental standards as
well as enforcement provisions dealing with pollution of the marine
environment

parties -- (72) Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, The Bahamas,
Bahrain, Barbados, Belize, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil,
Cameroon, Cape Verde, Comoros, Costa Rica, Cote d'Ivoire, Cuba,
Cyprus, Djibouti, Dominica, Egypt, Fiji, The Gambia, Germany, Ghana,
Grenada, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Honduras, Iceland, Indonesia,
Iraq, Italy, Jamaica, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Mali, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius,
Mexico, Federated States of Micronesia, Namibia, Nigeria, Oman,
Paraguay, Philippines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint
Vincent and the Grenadines, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal,
Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Sudan,
Tanzania, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay,
Vietnam, Yemen, former Yugoslavia, Zaire, Zambia, Zimbabwe

countries that have signed, but not yet ratified -- (91) Afghanistan,
Algeria, Argentina, Austria, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Benin,
Bhutan, Bolivia, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burkina, Burma, Burundi, Cambodia,
Canada, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, China, Colombia, Congo,
Cook Islands, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El
Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, European Union, Finland,
France, Gabon, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Hungary, India, Iran,
Ireland, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia,
Libya, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia,
Maldives, Mauritania, Monaco, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nauru,
Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Niue, Norway,
Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania,
Russia, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, South Africa,
Spain, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tuvalu,
Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, Vanuatu, Western Samoa

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification in those Countries
Experiencing Serious Drought and/or Desertification, Particularly in Africa

note -- abbreviated as Desertification

opened for signature -- 14 October 1994, but not yet in force

objective -- to combat desertification and mitigate the effects of
drought through national action programs that in