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7th Session of the Conference of the Parties 
to the United Nations Convention 
to Combat Desertification 

 



     

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Highlights for Monday, 17 October 2005


The Seventh Conference of the Parties (COP-7) to the Convention to Combat Desertification (CCD) opened on Monday afternoon, 17 October in Nairobi, Kenya. During the opening ceremony, delegates heard statements from the representative of UNEP Deputy Executive Director, the CCD Executive Secretary, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai, and Moody Awori, Vice-President of the Republic of Kenya. In the opening plenary, delegates elected the COP-7 President and other officers including the Chairs of the CST and CRIC, and adopted the agenda and the organization of work. Parties also considered accreditation of intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, and the admission of observer organizations.

Above photo: View of the opening Plenary.


OPENING CEREMONY:


Above photos: COP-7 opened with cultural performances.


Above photos L-R: The dais during the opening ceremony with Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai; Moody Awori, Vice-President of the Republic of Kenya; Andrew Kiptoon, Permanent Representative of Kenya to UNEP; Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the UNCCD and Bakary Kante, Director for Environmental Conventions, UNEP (DEC).


Andrew Kiptoon, (above left) Permanent Representative of Kenya to UNEP, opened COP-7 and  welcomed participants to Nairobi. He called for a minute of silence to commemorate the recent passing of Rosa Elena Simeón Negrín, Cuba’s Minister for Science, Technology and the Environment and COP-6 President and Joke Waller-Hunter, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, as well as the victims of the recent natural disasters.


On behalf of UNEP Deputy Executive Director Shafqat Kakakhel, Bakary Kante, (above left) Director for Environmental Conventions, UNEP, welcomed participants to UNEP headquarters, and thanked Kenya for offering to host COP-7.

Hama Arba Diallo, Executive Secretary of the CCD, expressed his gratitude to the Government of Kenya for hosting COP-7, and suggested that this may help to strengthen ties to UNEP in the development of the Convention.




Wangari Maathai, (above left) the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate, emphasized that if we want a peaceful world, we have to manage our environment in a responsible, sustainable and equitable manner.

Moody Awori, (above rigth) Vice-President of the Republic of Kenya , welcomed delegates to Kenya . He reminded them that a large part of the country is arid and fragile.


OPENING PLENARY:


José Autonio Diaz Duque, (above left) COP-6 President and Cuba’s Vice Minister for Science, Technology and the Environment, reviewed the achievements made at COP-6 and said that the decisions made at COP-6 strengthened the implementation of the Convention and contributed to desertification control and poverty reduction.

Stephen Kalonzo Musyoka, Minister of Environment and Natural Resources of Kenya, thanked delegates for electing him as COP-7 President, congratulated the outgoing COP-6 President and other Bureau members on the contributions that they have made, and expressed appreciation to the CCD Secretariat for the excellent preparations for COP-7.

ELECTION OF OTHER OFFICERS:


Above photos L-R: CRIC-3 Chair Mohamed Mahmoud Ould El Ghaouth (Mauritania) sought clarification on whether two citizens of one country can be elected to the Bureau; Cherryl Gordon, (Jamaica) proposed delaying the election of other Bureau members pending resolution on this matter; following a short consultation, Viorel Blujdea (Romania) has been nominated and elected as Chair of the Committee on Science and Technology .




 


This service was prepared in cooperation with the UNCCD Secretariat



Links

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Session documents
UNEP
FAO
GEF Secretariat
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CBD Secretariat
ENB coverage of COP-6
ENB coverage of CRIC-3
Review of the First 10 years of the Convention

ENB archives of desertification meetings

 
 

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