Seventh meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended
Working Group on Access and Benefit-Sharing of
the Convention on Biological Diversity

Highlights for Friday, 3 April 2009 Delegates to the seventh meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met in a morning plenary to address compliance, benefit-sharing, and access. A contact group met in the afternoon and evening to negotiate operational text on the objective of the international regime.

"UNESCO" from Robert Jacobsen, Danish artist.

Daily web coverage
2 April - 3 April - 4 April - 5 April - 6 April - 7 April - 8 April

	Morning Plenary

Ahmed Djoghlaf, CBD Executive Secretary, and Timothy Hodges (Canada), ABS Working Group Co-Chair

Joseph Toussaint, Haiti

Alejandro Lago and Asha Sukhwani, Spain

Marina von Weissenberg, Finland, and Girma Balcha, Ethiopia

Brazilian delegates

GRULAC participants

	Contact Group

Valerie Normand, CBD Secretariat, and Contact Group Co-Chairs Birthe Ivars (Norway) and David Hafashimana (Uganda)

Jose Luis Sutera and Mariana Alvarez Rodriguez, Argentina

Sem Shikongo, Namibia

Tone Solhaug, Norway

	Side Event Compliance issues in the ABS International Regime

Himanshu Vyas, Ayurnet Healthcare, Jose Miguel Flores Acuña, Chile, Maria Hauser, International Chamber of Commerce International Court of Arbitration, and Christine Akello, National Environmental Manangement Authority, Uganda

Susan K. Fiston, Access and Benefit Sharing Alliance

	Side Event Formalizing Prior Informed Consent with Indigenous and Local Communities - Experiences on the Ground

Dagmar Lohan, GTZ, and Kabir Bavikatte, Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment

	Around Conference Center

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon attended the annual meeting of the UN System Chief Executives Board for Coordination, hosted by UNESCO from 4-5 April 2009.

	Daily web coverage 2 April - 3 April - 4 April - 5 April - 6 April - 7 April - 8 April

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	Related Links CBD Secretariat Meeting documents Provisional Agenda Annotated Provisional Agenda IISD RS resources IISD RS coverage of the Sixth meeting of the Ad-hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS 6),  21-25 January 2008, Geneva, Switzerland IISD RS coverage of the Fifth meeting of the Ad-hoc Open-ended Working Group on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS 5),  8-12 October 2007, Montreal, Canada IISD RS coverage of the CBD COP 9, 19-30 May 2008, Bonn, Germany IISD RS coverage of the CBD COP 8, 20-31 March 2006, Curitiba, Brazil IISD RS biodiversity and wildlife page BIODIVERSITY-L - A mailing list for news on biodiversity and wildlife policy Linkages Update - Bi-weekly international environment and sustainable development news MEA Bulletin - Newsletter on key MEAs and their secretariats African Regional Coverage Linkages Africa - Fortnightly newsletter reporting on sustainable development events in Africa