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Side Event - Dutch German ABS Capacity Development Initiative.

13.15 - 13.30

Lunch

13.30 – 13.35

Welcome, Mr. Suhel al-Janabi, Master of Ceremony

13.35 – 13.45

Background of the Initiative, Dr. Andreas Drews

Meta level of the initiative

How it started
Objectives and Instruments

13.45 - 14.05

From Cape Town to Bonn

Cape Town: Voices of stakeholders

	Anne_Angwenyi_2-1.mpg	8.9 MB
	Lucy_Mulenkei.mpg	5.6 MB
	Valerie_Normand.mpg	14.0 MB
	Jhonathan_Landrey.mpg	5.5 MB

Windhoek: ABS and Biotrade
Mr. Pierre du Plessis

Mr. du Plessis pointed out that the workshop on ABS and Biotrade was held in Windhoek and was hosted by Namibian government with the support of the Dutch German ABS Capacity Development Initiative. Mr. du Plessis noted that the approach of Namibia has been not just access and benefit sharing but also 'access and risk sharing' where we invest some of our own money as the government into research and development and then invite companies to take it further.

Marrakech: Kick-off West Africa
Maghreb and Indian Ocean Islands-Dr. Ahmed

Dr. Ahmed began by introducing the November 2007 workshop of Marrakech for French speaking countries which was a multi-stakeholder workshop. He noted that the workshop was very successful and resulted in an interaction between the different actors in the ABS process. An excursion was undertaken by the participants to see the Argon tree and discuss as a case study the ABS agreement related to it. The positive outcome of the workshop was that decision makers developed an understanding of the importance of ABS. Perhaps the most important result of the workshop was that it was the first time it was for French speakers from different sectors - business, communities, science and governments to interact with each other.

Nairobi: Second ABS Workshop for Africa
Mr. Sem Shikongo

The second ABS workshop in Kenya came at a crucial time. It was hosted by ICIPE along with the Dutch German Initiative and was a multistakeholder workshop. It discussed the progress made since the first ABS workshop in Cape Town. In Cape Town African countries came up with a vision for ABS for Africa. In Nairobi the attempt was to take this vision forward in a practical manner. Participants had presentations on the different case studies across Africa and discussed emerging issues such as ABS and protected areas. Participants then traveled to a Kenya's protected areas (national park) and heard about the ABS agreement on Novozymes. The co-chairs of the ABS WG also made presentations on the international process on ABS so far and African and EU negotiators who presented their perspectives on it. The participants of the Nairobi workshop finally came up with a set of recommendations for African negotiators at ABS WG 6.

Ministerial Prep. Meeting prior to COP 9
Mahé- Prof. Fouda

After the ABS WG 6 meeting, the Initiative organized in collaboration with the Government of Seychelles a ministerial preparatory meeting for African ministers prior to COP 9. Important ABS issues were discussed looking at real life cases such as the Teff case from Ethiopia and the case of Coco de Mer and the Venter institute's marine bioprospecting in Seychelles. Clarity was gained by African ministers on all the issues that would be discussed in COP 9. The highlight of the workshop was the development of an African position on the international regime on ABS that the ministers committed to support at COP 9 in Bonn. This position was sent to all the African ministers who weren’t present at the Mahe workshop through the AU, and these ministers then approved the African position.