BCH Migration/4th National Reports

Update on Accessing GEF Funding for the Fourth National Biosafety

I write to provide an update to you on the above-mentioned subject matter.
Please reference communication of UNEP in April 2019, requesting for Letters of Commitment indicating interest in accessing a GEF grant to support your preparation of the Fourth National Biosafety Report. 

Unlike the Second and Third National Reports, we received guidance that prior to submission of proposals for funding we will need submission of interest or intent by all Parties for the GEF grant to support the preparation of the Fourth National Report.  We did communicate same to all Parties in April 2019.

The communication was followed up by a notification and two follow up reminders by the SCBD as indicated below;
i. https://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2019/ntf-2019-042-bs-en.pdf  (1st May 2019)
ii. https://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2019/ntf-2019-074-bs-en.pdf  (3rd September 2019)
iii. https://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2019/ntf-2019-098-bs-en.pdf (4th November 2019)

Despite the notifications, we had varied responses from Parties in submission of their letters of Commitment.  The slow "grind" in receiving the letters has caused substantial delays in UNEP submitting the proposals for the funding to be released to support preparation of the 4th Biosafety National Report per your obligations under Article 33 of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.   Per COP/MOP Decision 9/5 para 8, UNEP has no mandate to remove any party from our submission list.  A few Parties have declined the GEF Grant and have either prepared or will prepare the reports with their own funds.  

Permit me Sir/Madam, on the status of letters of commitment received from Parties at the time of writing from the 131 GEF Eligible Parties as follows

i. Africa – 46 out of 50 Eligible Parties – [No Letters of Commitment [2]– Mauritius & Libya; Declined GEF Grant [2] – South Africa {report published} and Seychelles]
ii. Asia-Pacific – 24 out of 42 Eligible Parties [No Letters of Commitment [14]- Fiji, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kiribati, Malaysia, Marshall Islands, Myanmar, Niue, Pakistan, Samoa, Thailand, Tonga, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan]; Declined GEF Grant [2]– China & Philippines – reports published]
iii. GRULAC – 21 out of 30 Parties [No Letters of Commitment [8]- Belize, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Peru, Saint Vincent & Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago, Uruguay]; Declined GEF Grant [1]– Saint Kitts & Nevis]
iv. CEE – 5 out of 11 Parties [Azerbaijan, Georgia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, and Ukraine]]

Based on the feedback from Parties, UNEP followed up with a recommendation for the consideration by the GEF to enable UNEP submit proposals for GEF funding as follows;

i. Africa - An MSP for 45 Parties
ii. Interregional MSP (1) – Asia-Pacific, GRULAC & CEE (46 Parties)
iii. Interregional MSP (2) – Africa, Asia-Pacific, GRULAC & CEE (Max 40 Parties if they all come on board).  

UNEP also requested for a timeline ending January 2020 from the GEF, in case of no additional receipts of commitment letters to ahead with the third MSP (iii) with the numbers received.   Based on the additional letters received last week, the numbers for submission will change accordingly.

UNEP is awaiting feedback and guidance on our request from the GEF. 

Should any GEF Eligible Party be interested in the said GEF grant of $25,000, please send us your commitment letter as per the attached as soon as possible indicating in kind co-financing amount?
 
The Fourth National Biosafety Reports are extremely important as they will provide primary data to support the work of Article 35 on “Assessment and Review”, the final Evaluation of the Biosafety Strategy 2011 – 2020, the Fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook and the ongoing work on the Post 2020 Biodiversity Framework.

I trust this provides an update on the situation with request for funding to support the Preparation of the Fourth National Biosafety Report from the GEF.
Yours sincerely,

Alex Owusu-Biney
Portfolio Manager (Biosafety), GEF Coordination
Ecosystems Division
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
P. O. Box 30552 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: +254 20 7624066

Email: Alex.Owusu-Biney@un.org
http://www.unep.org/biosafety

Hello everyone,

I apologize for bombarding you with messages :).

I would just like to remind you that you can submit the report in the new preview version of the BCH in any one of the 6 UN languages. The direct links are:

English: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/register/NR4

French: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/fr/register/NR4

Spanish: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/es/register/NR4

Russian: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/ru/register/NR4

Arabic: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/ar/register/NR4

Chinese: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/zh/register/NR4

The Frequently Asked Questions are also available in all 6 UN languages.

Finally, you can use the Question mark on the right bottom corner of the platform to ask for assistance. This is a new HELP feature in the new BCH throughiout!!!

Kind regards,

Anastasia

Dear Forum Participants,

Thank you to all countries who have already submitted their 4th national reports, and to those who have published them online as well.

The reports that have been published ONLINE can be accessed through the National Reports section in the new BCH platform at the following link: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/en/reports.

The purpose of this message is to bring to your attention the Notification that was issued yesterday concerning the 4th national reports. Please see: http://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2019/ntf-2019-098-bs-en.pdf. 

Please note that the cut-off date for reports that will be considered in the analysis for assessment and review and the final evaluation of the Strategic Plan is 15 December 2019.

If you have any questions or need any assistance with submission of reports ONLINE through the new BCH platform (https://beta.bch.cbd.int/register/NR4), please do not hesitate to contact me through this forum or directly by e-mail at anastasia.beliaeva@cbd.int.

Thank you for your attention to this important matter.

Kind regards.

Anastasia

Dear Forum Participants,

Just a quick update on the status of submission of the 4th national reports.

More that 35% of Parties have already submitted the reports, and we would like to thank all those Parties for the timely submission of the reports.

The reports that have been published ONLINE can be accessed through the National Reports section, through the Report Analyser, in the new BCH platform at the following link: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/en/reports

I would like to encourage:

1. The countries, who have sent us the had copies of the reports but have not yet registered them online, to submit the reports ONLINE at the following link: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/register.

2. The countries, who have not yet submitted the reports, to complete them as soon as possible and register them online at the same link mentioned above.

If you have any questions or need any assistance during the online submission process, please do not hesitate to contact me through this forum or directly by e-mail at anastasia.beliaeva@cbd.int.

Kind regards.

Anastasia

Dear Forum Participants,

This is another development news concerning online format for 4th National Report.

The Report Analyzer is now active and working in the preview version of the new BCH. You can access it by selecting the National Reports on the top bar (please see image below) or here is the direct link: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/en/reports.

You can now track submission of fourth national reports by other Parties and Governments.

Kind regards,
Anastasia

Dear Forum Participants,

As promised, I would like to provide you with more information regarding the status of UNEP-GEF Project with respect to the availability of the financial support for the preparation of the 4th National Reports.

Mr. Alex Owusu-Biney (Portfolio Manager (Biosafety), UNEP-GEF Project) has informed us that UNEP-GEF will be submitting the project to the GEF very shortly, and he will be in touch with eligible countries as soon as they receive the go-ahead. This should not take long.

In the meantime, we still urge Parties to start preparing the reports while waiting for GEF resources.

Also, those Parties, that have not yet done so, please make sure to submit your letters of commitment through Mr. Alex Owusu-Biney (alex.owusu-biney@un.org) as soon as possible and no later than 1 October (i.e. the deadline for submission of the reports) as after that it will be too late.

Kind regards,

Anastasia

Dear Forum Participants,

**Introduction**

Please allow me to introduce myself.

My name is Anastasia Beliaeva and I have recently taken up the position of the Programme Management Assistant for the Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) in the Biosafety Unit of the Secretariat. I have been with the Secretariat already for about 16 years working in a different capacity and I am very happy to be taking up this new role. Please note that, among other things, I will be the one communicating with you on a regular basis (via e-mail and this forum) in order to keep you abreast of the latest developments in the BCH, assist you with any issues you may have and also follow-up with you concerning the completeness and accuracy of various records in the BCH, respective to your countries.

**BCH on BCH Forum: Purpose**

The purpose of this forum is to serve as a means of communication between everyone who is actively involved in using the BCH (especially, in registering and updating various types of records). This forum is intended mainly for the National Focal Points (BCH and CPB) and National Authorized Users (NAUs). I would like to encourage all of you to use this forum as an opportunity to exchange and share your views and experiences with the Secretariat (namely, its Biosafety Unit), and other colleagues around the world on the use of the BCH.

Please take note that this is an INFORMAL forum. The main language of communication is English. Nevertheless, please feel free to post messages in any one of the languages of your preference (among the 6 official UN languages). My colleagues and I will try our best to respond to you in the respective language.

**BCH Migration**

As you are aware, the Secretariat has finally embarked on the migration of the BCH to the new platform. I will be providing you with more information about the status of migration as it becomes available.

At this point, I would like to draw your attention to two items with respect to the latest developments in the BCH migration:

1) CHRONOGRAM

The chronogram outlines the timeline for the migration of the BCH to its new platform and the follow-up processes.

The notification about the chronogram for the BCH migration has been issued and is available  here: https://www.cbd.int/doc/notifications/2019/ntf-2019-063-bs-en.pdf

2) ONLINE FORMAT FOR THE FOURTH NATIONAL REPORT is already available as a preview version in the new BCH platform at this link:  https://beta.bch.cbd.int/register/NR4 

The deadline for the submission of the 4th National Reports is 1 October 2019.
To help you get started, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), in particular to Questions 2 and 3, which explain in detail how to start registering the report using the new preview online format. FAQs are accessible here: http://bch.cbd.int/protocol/national-report-faq. Please note that CPB, BCH focal points and NAUs can all create and register the 4th National Report. However, it is only the BCH focal points who have the right to publish the report. Again, please refer to Question 3 of the FAQs which describes in detail the steps to follow.

If you have any further questions on using the new online format, please do not hesitate to contact me via e-mail or through this forum.

We hope that you will actively participate in this forum and enjoy this opportunity to share your views and experiences with us at the Secretariat, and other colleagues around the world.

Thank you very much for your attention.

Kind regards,
Anastasia

Dear Forum Participants,

I am very pleased to inform you that the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) concerning the submission of the 4th National Reports have been translated, and are now available in all 6 UN languages.

Please pay special attention to Questions 2 and 3 in FAQs as they explain in detail how to use the new Fourth National Report Online Format of the BCH, namely:
     -- who can submit and publish the report;   
     -- steps on how to create the report (see Question 3 with screen captures).

We did our best to make sure the translations are adequate but if there are some discrepancies, please forgive us!

**How to access FAQs:**

In OLD (current BCH): simply click on the "Fourth National Report: Questions and Answers" icon on the right side of the Home page at: http://bch.cbd.int/

In NEW online BCH (at: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/register/NR4/):  the FAQs can be accessed through the "Announcements" on the Home page, or through the "Introduction" section. To view FAQs in your respective language (for example, to switch from English to French), select your language in the right top corner (see the attached screen shot). 
Here are also the direct links:
   -- English:  https://beta.bch.cbd.int/en/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f
   -- French:  https://beta.bch.cbd.int/fr/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f
   -- Spanish: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/es/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f
   -- Russian: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/ru/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f
   -- Arabic: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/ar/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f
   -- Chinese: https://beta.bch.cbd.int/zh/articles/5d2cdcd0620471000183573f

We hope this information will be useful to you in submitting your reports!

Kind regards,

Anastasia