Notification 2016-011

Dear Madam/Sir, In paragraph 2(a) of decision X/15 on the clearing-house mechanism (CHM), the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) has encouraged Parties to continue to take the necessary steps to establish, strengthen, and ensure the sustainability of, national clearing-house mechanisms (CHM Goal 2). More recently, in paragraph 15 of decision XII/2 B, the Conference of the Parties has strongly encouraged Parties to accelerate the establishment and development of their national clearing-house mechanisms where they have not done so, and in paragraph 16 of the same decision, it has also encouraged Parties and partners to provide support to developing country Parties that are developing their national clearing-house mechanisms. Pursuant to these decisions and thanks to the generous financial support of the Government of Japan, the Secretariat, in collaboration with the Government of Serbia, is organizing a regional workshop for Central and Eastern Europe and Western Asia on the clearing-house mechanism to be held from 4 to 8 April 2016 in Belgrade, Serbia. This workshop is intended for developing countries, but other countries in the region are invited to attend provided that they cover their own costs. The working language of the workshop will be English. The objective of the workshop is to build capacity and provide guidance on how to establish and sustain effective national clearing-house mechanisms, in line with decision X/15 and in support of the National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs). The provisional agenda and other relevant documents will be available online in due course at www.cbd.int/doc/?meeting=chmws-2016-02. In this regard, I am pleased to invite your Government to nominate one representative to participate in this workshop. The nominee should meet the following criteria: (a) Involvement in the planning and development of the national CHM in your country, as expected from the CHM National Focal Point; (b) Familiarity with the national biodiversity strategy and action plan (NBSAP); © Ability to present the current situation of the national CHM as well as any existing plan to develop it; and (d) Occupy a position enabling him/her to apply the knowledge and capacity gained during the workshop for further developing the national CHM. The nomination should be in the form of an official letter addressed to the CBD Executive Secretary and signed by the CBD National Focal Point or a senior government official, together with the attached nomination and endorsement forms. This letter can either be scanned and e mailed to secretariat@cbd.int or faxed to +1 514 288 6588, no later than 3 February 2016. The letter should contain the nominee's name and full contact details with an active e mail address. If the nominee is not a National Focal Point, a curriculum vitae indicating the nominee's areas of expertise should be included. As funding is limited, financial support to attend the workshop will be granted to eligible Parties on a first-come, first-served basis taking into account the above-mentioned criteria. Upon receipt of the nomination letter, necessary arrangements will be made and detailed information concerning the workshop will be communicated. I look forward to receiving your early nomination. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points with copy to the CHM National Focal Points of the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Tajikistan, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan