In this issue: Summary of the Second Conference of the Parties to the Convention to Combat Desertification; UNEP Governing Council 20th Session 1-5 February 1999 Decision 20/10 - Land Degradation; Environmental Security in the Drylands of Africa: The Role of Science and Technology; Ecology. People and the Environment: A Challenge to the Educators of Managers of Drylands Restoration; Baseline and Growth Indicators for Dcsertification in the Saharo-Sahelian Area of Mauritania and their Monitoring from 1953 to 1998; India's Approach to Combat Drought and Desertification: An Analysis; Gender Dimension in Relation to Desertification Control Initiatives in the Southern African Development community; Integrating Gender Issues into NAP Process in Zimbabwe; Extent. Severity and Causative Factors of Land Degradation in the Sudan; Indicators of Desertification in Kuwait and their Possible Management; The Social Work Research Centre Barefoot College: A Success Story in Desertification/Land Degradation Control; The Zabré Women Agro-Ecological Project, Burkina Faso: A Success Story in Desertification/Land Degradation Control; Collective and Family Woodlands Project in Tiogo forest Reserve, Burkina Faso: A Success Story in Desertification/Land Degradation Control; etc.