Notification 2013-077

Dear Madam/Sir, In decision XI/1D, paragraph 1, the Conference of the Parties requested the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with relevant organizations and subject to the availability of financial resources, to continue organizing capacity-building and development activities to support the ratification, early entry into force and implementation of the Nagoya Protocol on Access to Genetic Resources and the Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits Arising from their Utilization. In accordance with the above request, the Secretariat and the ABS Capacity Development Initiative together with the South Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) are organizing a sub-regional workshop on the Nagoya Protocol for the Pacific countries to be held from 25 to 29 November 2013 in Suva, Fiji. The objective of the workshop is to promote awareness and strengthen the capacity of participating countries to plan and undertake national activities towards the ratification and implementation of the Protocol and to share relevant experiences and lessons learned. Thanks to the generous support from the Government of Japan and the GEF medium-sized project on capacity building for the early entry into force of the Nagoya Protocol, the Secretariat will provide funding support to one government official from each of the Pacific countries, as well as several representatives of indigenous and local communities from the sub-region. I therefore have the honour to invite your Government to nominate one participant to be funded by the Secretariat to take part in the workshop. The nomination should be in the form of an official letter addressed to the CBD Executive Secretary, signed by the CBD Focal Point or a senior government official, along with the attached registration form duly completed. The nomination letter and the registration form should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than 30 September 2013, either by e-mail to secretariat@cbd.int or by fax to +1 514 288 6588. Further details about the workshop, including the workshop programme and other documents, will be made available on the meeting website (http://www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=ABSCBW-PAC-01) in due course. The workshop will be held in English only. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD Focal Points for: Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of), Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu