Dear Colleagues, 

I am writing to bring to your attention the upcoming side event on “Building capacity for public participation regarding LMOs/GMOs to effectively implement the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the GMO Amendment” that will be held on 11 September 2017 in Budva, Montenegro. The side event is organized jointly by the Secretariat of the UNECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (Aarhus Convention) and the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and takes place in the margins of the sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention.

The side event is intended to provide training session to delegates from Governments and relevant organizations on public participation mechanisms and procedures concerning living modified organisms (LMOs)/genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

The training session will enhance the capacities of participants to facilitate public participation in decision-taking concerning LMOs/GMOs. It will also highlight means to integrate national initiatives under Article 23 of the Protocol, the programme of work on public awareness, education and participation regarding LMOs and its priority areas into national initiatives, such as biodiversity and other environmental strategies, as foreseen to increase after 2020.

The side event will finally draw attention to the importance of the ratification and implementation of the Aarhus Convention’s Almaty Amendment on public participation in decisions on the deliberate release into the environment and placing on the market of GMOs, (the GMO amendment).

The outcomes of the event will be reported to the sixth session of the Meeting of the Parties to the Aarhus Convention and to the meeting of the Parties of the Cartagena Protocol.

If you are interested, please register as soon as possible at http://www.unece.org/env/pp/aarhusmop6&prtrmopp3/registration.html

Please contact us to receive the agenda and other documentation for the side event as well as information on speakers.

We look forward to welcoming you to this important event.

Best regards,

Ulrika Nilsson
Associate Information Officer
Biosafety Unit
Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity
United Nations Environment Programme
413 St Jacques Street, Suite 800,
Montréal, Québec, Canada H2Y 1N9
Tel: +1-514-287-8720
Email: ulrika.nilsson@cbd.int 
Internet: http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/UN.Biosafety
E-Learning Modules: https://scbd.unssc.org/course/index.php?categoryid=9