Workshop Review

The two day preparatory meeting model wherein the first day focuses on providing information and the second day is spent on African co-ordination was an outcome of the preparatory meeting prior to ABSWG 5 in Montreal. African delegates felt that such a model was ideal in that it would give them an opportunity to update themselves while at the same time allowing them time to use this information in developing common African positions.

The model was experimented with in Montreal prior to ABSWG 5 and then perfected in Geneva prior to ABSWG 6. African delegates came to expect it in Bonn prior to COP 9. The challenge however for a pre COP prep meeting is that the sheer range of issues before the COP and the fact that the pool of African delegates are both new and with diverse experiences. While at the ABSWGs the prep meetings focused on a stable group of delegates who had been following the issue over a few years and coordinated well as a team, a COP prep meeting presented the organizers and the participants where the diversity and size of the delegations were both a strength and a challenge.

The pre COP prep meeting provided valuable lessons for both participants and organizers who felt that the African Union must organize similar meetings prior to COPs rather than focus all discussions and co-ordination in a meeting on the eve of the COP. It is now up to the African Union to step up and meet the needs of the African delegates through regular co-ordination and briefing meetings in the run up to the COPs.