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The international community has long recognized that desertifi cation is a major economic, social and environmental problem of concern to many countries in all regions of the world. The question of how to tackle desertifi cation was a major concern for the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), which was held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992. The Conference supported a new, integrated approach to the problem, emphasizing action to promote sustainable development at the community level. It also called on the United Nations General Assembly to establish an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INCD) to prepare, by June 1994, a Convention to Combat Desertifi cation, particularly in Africa. The Convention was adopted in Paris on 17 June 1994.