Notification 2005-006

Dear Madam/Sir, I am writing in connection with paragraph 4 of decision VII/23 which invited developed country Parties to assist developing countries Parties, through the clearing-house mechanism, in their efforts to implement and use new information technologies, including the establishment of websites. In addition, paragraph 5 of decision VII/23 invited Parties to develop regional clearing-house mechanisms to further promote and facilitate technical and scientific cooperation and the exchange of information on technology transfer at the regional level. In support of the above, the Government of The Netherlands has generously provided financial resources for the organization of a technical workshop to assist developing countries Parties to establish regional websites based on the European Community clearing-house mechanism website. Accordingly, the Executive Secretary, in collaboration with the European Community clearing-house mechanism, is convening a technical workshop on the development of regional clearing-house mechanisms, to be held in Bucharest, Romania, from 23 to 25 February 2005. Participation is limited to two representatives from each developing area regions including economies in transition. You are hereby invited to submit the name of an expert from your country, together with a description of his/her relevant expertise and full coordinates. Availability of nominees should be verified by their national focal points prior to the submission of their names. The provisional and annotated agendas and information for participants will be made available on the Convention’s website at a later date. Please note that the meeting will be held in English. The Secretariat will support the participation of two experts from each developing region including countries with economies in transition. This includes a round-trip air ticket on the most economical and direct route and a daily subsistence allowance (DSA) for the duration of the meeting. In view of budget constraints and in order to allow the maximum number of countries to participate in the meeting, the Secretariat would be using special air fare tickets for sponsored experts, which impose restrictions with respect to the changing of passenger’s name, travel dates and itinerary. The selection of experts will be based on expertise, taking into account gender balance and geographic distribution, and will be carried out using the following criteria: - Technical expertise in the establishment and administration of web servers; - Knowledge of eXtensible Markup Language (XML); - Knowledge of database administration; - Interest in promoting the establishment of a clearing-house mechanism website at the regional level. In light of the above, nominations should be accompanied by a curriculum vitae that clearly indicates the areas of expertise of the nominee. The nomination of experts should be sent to the Secretariat, by fax or electronic mail, no later than 1 February 2005.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points CHM National Focal Points Informal Advisory Committee of the CHM