The Mountain Partnership—an evolving voluntary alliance of countries, intergovernmental organisations and major groups (civil society, NGOs, and the private sector) on f ive continents—was set up to provide a cohesive framework in which to enhance collaboration in the implementation of both Chapter 13 in Agenda 21 and the negotiated outcome of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation, which called for on-ground action at the policy, programme, and project levels.