Notification 2016-146

Dear Madam/Sir, In decision XII/2 B, paragraph 15, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity requests the Executive Secretary to propose, in collaboration with the informal advisory committee to the clearing-house mechanism (CHM IAC), a process to grant, at the thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth meetings of the Conference of the Parties, subject to the availability of resources, an award to the Parties that have made the most significant progress in the establishment or further development of their national clearing-house mechanisms. I am pleased to share with you the outcome of the first CHM award process which culminated at the ceremony held on 9 December 2016 at the margins of COP 13. At this ceremony, six Parties were granted an award: In the "Existing National Clearing-House Mechanism" category, Mexico won the Gold Award, Australia the Silver Award, and Belgium the Bronze Award; In the "New National Clearing-House Mechanism" category, Malaysia won the Gold Award, Guatemala the Silver Award and Kenya the Bronze Award. In addition, a certificate of achievement was delivered to each of the 14 Parties that did not win an award but were ranked in the top-ten of each category, as a token of recognition for their efforts. The full outcome of this first CHM award process is available in the attached annex as well as online at www.cbd.int/chm/award. I would like to sincerely congratulate the Parties that have won an award or earned a certificate of achievement, and thank them for their efforts to strengthen their national clearing-house mechanisms. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the jury members for their time-consuming work in order to provide me with their assessment and ranking. Given the success of this first round of CHM awards, I am confident that the forthcoming rounds at the fourteenth and fifteenth meetings of the Conference of the Parties will build on this momentum in order to further motivate Parties to make their national clearing-house mechanisms as effective as possible in supporting the implementation of their national biodiversity strategies and action plans, as indicated in goal 2 of the mission, goals and objectives of the clearing-house mechanism, as adopted in decision X/15.

Executive Secretary

To: CBD & CHM National Focal Points; cc CHM-IAC Members & CHM Award Jury Members