The general trust fund was established in accordance with article 27 of the Constitution of the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment. The main objective of the fund is to provide financial support, wholly or partially, for the functioning of the organs of the Conference and the implementation of its activities and to ensure a sustainable financial basis for the Conference. The Constitution provides that pledges of contributions to the general trust fund shall be made at each session of the Conference and that the fund shall be an agenda item at each ordinary session of the Conference. The general trust fund was established on the basis of voluntary contributions. However, at the sixth session of the Conference held in 1995, it was realized that only a few countries had made contributions to the fund. Aware of the importance of the fund as the main means of resource mobilization and the most important means of securing the commitments of African Governments to the Conference, it was felt that mandatory contributions would be necessary to mobilize the financial resources required to implement the activities of the Conference.