Side Event

Building Capacity through Knowledge for Sustainable Biosafety Implementation in West Africa: A Review of Upstream Analytical Work on Regulatory, Environmental and Economic Aspects

Organizer
World Bank (in cooperation with partner countries/research institutes)

Date and Time
14 May 2008 13:15 - 14:45

Meeting
Fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (BS COP MOP 4)

The event will provide a brief overview of the West Africa Regional Biosafety Project and focus primarily on the results of key analytical studies commissioned by the World Bank that were aimed to inform the countries on project design, approach and long-term biosafety/biotechnology policy in the region. A broad and well-developed knowledge-base is critical to permit informed decision-making on critical policy issues such as biosafety. Through a panel of speakers, the seminar will follow the trajectory of analytical work undertaken before and during the preparation of the West Africa Regional Biosafety Project with an emphasis on regulatory stocktaking and environmental and economic impact studies (including the drivers behind choices countries make on approaches to biosafety). A panel discussion on the studies will be preceded by a brief introduction of the project by a country representative.