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Decision COP VI/19
UNEP/CBD/COP/DEC/VI/19

Communication, education and public awareness

The Conference of the Parties,

Global Initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness

Recalling the provisions of Article 13 of the Convention on Biological Diversity and its decisions IV/10 B, paragraph 6, and V/17,

Taking note of the information provided by the Executive Secretary with regard to biodiversity education and public awareness,

Noting with appreciation the work done by the Consultative Working Group of Experts convened according to decision V/17, 
Recognizing that communication, education and public awareness are essential elements for the successful and effective implementation of the Convention,
Further recognizing the central role of communication, education and public awareness in the implementation of the Strategic Plan,
Emphasizing that communication and education are two distinct yet complementary disciplines,
Noting that key actors in the implementation of the Convention need effective instruments on communication, education and public awareness to engage major stakeholders and to convey the appropriate messages to mainstream biodiversity,
Recognizing the complementary nature of a global initiative on education and public awareness and the corporate communication of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity,
Operational Active
1.Decides to adopt the programme of work for a Global Initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness, as contained in the annex to the present decision;
Operational Active Parties
2.Invites Parties to strongly and effectively promote biodiversity-related issues through the press, the various media, and public relations and communications networks at national levels;
Operational Active Parties Other Government(s)
3.Requests the Parties to the Convention and other Governments:
(a)To support the national, regional and international activities prioritized by the Global Initiative on Education and Public Awareness;
(b)To develop adequate capacity to deliver initiatives on communication, education and public awareness, taking into account special needs of developing countries, in particular, the least developed countries and small island developing States;
Operational Retired Superseded Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
4.Requests the Executive Secretary, in consultation with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, the United Nations Environment Programme, the IUCN Commission for Education and Communication, and other members of the Consultative Working Group of Experts established by decision V/17, as well as any relevant institutions, to:
Operational Retired Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(a)Monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Global Initiative according to the conditions established in the annex to the present decision for its start-up phase and report regularly on its implementation to the meetings of the Conference of the Parties; 
Operational Retired Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(b)Review the communication, education and public-awareness dimensions of existing and new cross-cutting issues and thematic areas, and specifically those priorities and action plans established in the Strategic Plan for the Convention;
Operational Retired Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(c)Promote, in collaboration with the relevant agencies, the development and implementation of demonstration projects that can serve as models to initiate similar projects that can be adopted by Parties, and to report thereon to the Conference of the Parties at its seventh meeting; 
Operational Retired Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(d)Seek the submission of relevant case-studies on biodiversity communication, education and public awareness from relevant sources;
Operational Retired Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
(e)Develop and implement a corporate communication strategy for the Secretariat.
Operational Active Global Environment Facility
5.Invites the Global Environment Facility to include expertise relating to communication, education and public awareness when evaluating projects for funding approval and to strengthen its involvement in and support of the national implementation of the Global Initiative;
Operational Active OTHERS
6.Invites the private sector to become an active player in the Global Initiative and encourages the private sector to mobilize resources for this Initiative;
Operational Active United Nations Environment Programme
7.Invites the United Nations Environment Programme:
(a)To promote biodiversity-related communication, education and public-awareness activities across multilateral environmental agreements and programmes;
(b)To promote capacity-building for communication, education and public awareness at the regional level in cooperation with IUCN and others;
(c)To develop international mechanisms that facilitate access to environmental information, environmental justice and public participation;
Operational Active United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
8.Urges the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to develop a plan to integrate biodiversity into all levels of formal education;
Operational Active OTHERS
9.Invites other agencies such as the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank, and development banks:
(a)To reflect in their funding policies the Global Initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness according to the conditions established in the annex to the present decision;
(b)To include expertise on communication, education and public awareness when evaluating projects for funding approval;
Operational Active Indigenous peoples and local communities OTHERS
10.Invites indigenous people’s organizations, community-based organizations and non-governmental organizations to include communication, education and public awareness in their relevant activities and to support the global initiative on education and public awareness according to the conditions established in the annex to the present decision;

Library and publications

Welcoming the significant increase in the number and variety of publications prepared by the Secretariat, in particular the Global Biodiversity Outlook, the Handbook of the Convention, the Technical Series and the various brochures,
Operational Active Parties
11.Invites Parties to facilitate the increase in the number of biodiversity-related publications in their national libraries in order to facilitate further dissemination of knowledge on biodiversity issues among the general public;
Operational Active Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity
12.Requests the Executive Secretary to: 
(a)Develop appropriate partnerships with public and private research and academic institutions for the exchange of publications related to biodiversity; 
(b)Examine the possibility of establishing formal liaison with schools of environmental education to further disseminate decisions of the Conference of the Parties to future specialists;
(c)Make available all publications in the area of biodiversity communication, education and public awareness that have been produced by the Secretariat in the six official United Nations languages, subject to the availability of funding, and promote the translation of those publications in the languages of indigenous and local communities;
Operational Active OTHERS
13.Invites United Nations bodies and other international and regional organizations to send copies of their biodiversity-related publications to the library of the Secretariat.
Body
Conference of the Parties (COP)

Meeting
COP-06
Sixth Ordinary Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
7 - 19 April, 2002
The Hague, Netherlands (Kingdom of the)

Timeline
Decision document
VI/19
Communication, education and public awareness
Related documents
UNEP/CBD/COP/7/INF/10
Report of the fourth meeting of the consultative working group of experts on biological diversity education and public awareness
UNEP/CBD/COP/8/INF/2
Review and Retirement of the Decisions of the Conference of the Parties: Proposals by the Executive Secretary pursuant to decision VII/33 on Operations of the Convention
Related decisions / recommendations
VIII/6
Global Initiative on Communication, Education and Public Awareness:  overview of implementation of the programme of work and options to advance future work
X/14 para 3
Retirement of decisions
VII/24
Education and public awareness (article 13)
V/17
Education and public awareness
XIII/22
Framework for a communications strategy