Previous Online Discussions of the AHTEG

Dear all,

As agreed during the AHTEG meeting, the draft outlines produced by the SWGs are currently open for discussion among a larger group of experts who are part of the Open-ended Online Expert Forum.

The objective of these larger discussions is two-fold: to gather valuable input for the development of the guidance documents, and to include a larger number of experts thereby increasing Parties’ support to the work of the AHTEG. 

You may have noticed that there have not been many interventions and the discussions still need to pick up some speed. According to our experience with previous online discussions, there is a need to create some initial momentum in the discussions by inspiring the participants to freely express their opinions.

As an AHTEG participant, it would be greatly appreciated if you could help us creating such momentum by posting one or more messages in the discussion groups (http://bch.cbd.int/onlineconferences/discussiongroups_ra.shtml). The messages could contain short and informal texts on, for instance, the importance of their contribution, points that could be discussed, structure of the guidance document, etc. The most important thing, however, is that such messages would inspire and create the right atmosphere for participants to join the discussions more actively.

The ongoing discussion groups also give you the opportunity to become acquainted with and provide input to the work of the SWGs in which you are not directly involved.

Your help is essential and greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you have any question or if I can help in any way. Thanks a lot!

Best regards,
Manoela