Background

These trainings are part of the ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa. Background information about the Initiative and full documentation of previous workshops and events is provided on www.abs-africa.info. This website was launched under this Initiative to provide a platform for information exchange and it is envisaged to develop it further into an ABS Clearinghouse for Africa.

Negotiations between different stakeholder groups play a crucial role in the development and implementation of ABS legislation and regulations at the international as well as at the national level. Furthermore, getting to mutually agreed terms (MAT) with appropriate benefit-sharing regulations is vital for successful bioprospecting agreements. However, practice reveals that negotiating partners are often not equally empowered to sit at level eyes at the negotiating table.

Therefore, the development of negotiation skills is mentioned as one of the key issues in the CBD Action Plan on Capacity-Building for Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing, which was adopted by COP 7 in February 2004, as well as in the capacity-building needs assessment undertaken during the conceptualisation phase of this initiative.

Not necessarily unique to the ABS arena, complex negotiation processes in the field of sustainable development, environmental protection or resource conservation involve working with many different partners, interest groups and funding bodies, and require constructive negotiating skills. Stakeholders must be able to spotlight topics, represent their interests, develop workable solutions and at the same time maintain good relations with the negotiating parties. Furthermore, in the varied relationship structures between actors with differing degrees of power and divergent interests, some stakeholders may find that they are not exactly in the strongest position.