Notification 2013-091

Dear Madam/Sir, In decision XI/8, the Conference of the Parties recalled its decision X/23, in which it welcomed the Multi-Year Plan of Action for South-South Cooperation on Biodiversity for Development (http://www.cbd.int/ssc/mypa), as adopted by the Group of 77 and China at the South-South Cooperation Forum, and requested the Executive Secretary to “promote South-South cooperation and triangular cooperation as a coherent, consistent and coordinated approach to technical and scientific cooperation and information exchange and as a cross-cutting issue relevant to all aspects of work under the Convention on Biological Diversity”. The Global South-South Development (GSSD) Expo is a United Nations system-wide high-profile event for South-South cooperation, designed to showcase and scale up the impact of successful evidence-based solutions by developing countries in addressing various sustainable development challenges. The 2013 GSSD Expo, an annual event co-sponsored by more than 25 United Nations organizations, over 120 United Nations Member States and a large number of private sector and civil society organizations, will take place from 28 October to 1 November 2013 at the headquarters of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in Nairobi, Kenya. Under the overarching theme, Building Inclusive Green Economies: South-South Cooperation for Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication, the 2013 GSSD Expo will be an occasion to demonstrate the collective response of the United Nations to relevant provisions of the Rio+20 Outcome and its capacity to facilitate South-South cooperation and an exchange of experiences on green economies. Further information is contained in the Advisory by UNEP, attached to this Notification. The CBD Secretariat, in close cooperation with UNEP’s GSSD Expo organizing team and the United Nations Office on South-South Cooperation, will contribute to the United Nations South-South Multi-stakeholders’ Meeting on 31 October 2013. The Secretariat will also maintain an exhibition stand that would provide opportunity to distribute relevant materials of the CBD, its Parties and partner organizations. In addition, case studies of solutions in technical and scientific cooperation can be submitted through the websites of the different partners in the GSSD Expo, including UNEP’s Exchange Mechanism, at http://www.unep.org/south-south-cooperation/case/Default.aspx. For any additional information and relevant support, I invite you to communicate with the Secretariat through Mr. Oliver Hillel (oliver.hillel@cbd.int).

Executive Secretary

To: CBD National Focal Points