Country-Led Initiative in Support of the Multi-Year Programme of Work of the UNFF

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Country-Led Initiative in Support of the Multi-Year Programme of Work of the UNFF: Charting the Way Forward to 2015
Bali, Indonesia | 13-16 February, 2007

Bali Working Groups Discuss MYPOW

On Wednesday, the Country-Led Initiative (CLI) in support of the UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Multi-Year Program of Work (MYPOW) convened for its second day of discussions. In the morning, participants resumed discussions in three working groups on: Themes of UNFF Biennial Meetings; Modalities; and Regional and Sub-regional Dimensions. In the afternoon participants met in a joint working group session to report on progress made and to discuss cross-cutting issues, then reconvened in working groups. In the evening, participants attended a dinner hosted by the Governor of the Province of Bali.

Wednesday, 14 February
Working Groups
Co-chaired by Tony Barlett and Paul Lolo with rapporteur Cinthia Soto, Working Group 1 (WG1), on themes of UNFF biennial meetings, continued discussions on identifying a suitable framework for themes.
Working Group 2 (WG2) discussed presentation of national experiences during substantive sessions, increasing outreach, and timing of ministerial segments, and considered a paper introduced by New Zealand outlining modalities that operate on a biennial cycle.
Working Group 3 (WG3) on "Regional and Sub-regional Dimensions" focused on existing regional mechanisms and how they could cooperate to provide input to UNFF work; how best to provide regional input to UNFF; and the objective of and topics for regional meetings.
In WG3, Ahmad Rajabi, Iran, referred to the need to strengthen the institutional and financial capacity of regional bodies.	In WG2, Benedicto Conseca Filho, Brazil, suggested placing the high-level segment at the beginning of substantive sessions, to provide guidance to UNFF.	In WG1, Sybille Vermont, Switzerland, urged delegates to listen to stakeholders, as they will be key to success.
WG Joint Session
WG3 Co-chair Peter Mayer reported that the group had reached agreement on the issues it discussed.	Javad Amin-Mansour, Iran, asked for additional clarification on the role of regional processes in responding to natural disasters.	Nikolay Pomoschnikov, Russian Federation, asked for clarification on whether documents produced through regional processes could be accepted and translated as official UN documents.
WG2 Co-chair Ingwald Gschwandtl reported on the group's discussions, noting that they were still ongoing, and said that Secretariat proposals for high level segments at 2011 and 2015 were open to consideration.	WG1 Co-chair Tony Bartlett reported on WG1's progress in discussing themes of biennial meetings.	Tasso Rezende de Azevedo, Brazil, offered some additional thoughts on a schedule of biennial meetings.
Matthias Reich, Germany, said that implementation of the NLBI should be the core of MYPOW in the future.	José Antonio Doig, Peru, noted that in order to have a coherent report on regional input, WG2 and WG3 need to work together.	Markku Aho, Finland, proposed that the UNFF invite scientific input from Collaborative Partnership on Forests experts to guide discussions on thematic topics.
Around the CLI
Denyse Rousseau, Canada, gestured while talking to another participant during a break.	UNFF-7 Chair Hans Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, conferred with Modesto Fernández during a break.	Charlotte Cudby, New Zealand, chatted with another participant during a coffee break.

In keeping with the CLI's theme of "Charting the Way Forward to 2015," participants were seen pointing the way forward in various directions.