On the last day of the ninth session of the Governing Body (GB 9) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA or Treaty), plenary successfully finalized the consideration of all agenda items, approved draft resolutions, and adopted the report of the meeting, including all resolutions.
Highlights of the day included agreement on resolutions on:
- farmers’ rights;
- cooperation with other organizations, including a request for cooperation with the Human Rights Council;
- conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), including a decision to resume the Ad Hoc Technical Committee; and
- “digital sequence information/genetic sequence data” (DSI/GSD) as part of the Multi-Year Programme of Work, including recognition of capacity-building needs to reduce the gap in DSI/GSD use, and a request to the Co-Chairs of the Working Group on enhancing the Multilateral System (MLS) to accord early attention to the issue.
GB 10 is scheduled to be held from 20-25 November 2023, in Rome, Italy. GB 9 Chair Yasmina El Bahloul was reelected to serve as GB 10 Chair. Delegates commended the Bureau and Secretariat for their guidance and hard work during challenging circumstances.
In their closing statements, regions expressed their appreciation to India for the exceptional hosting and underscored the relaunch of negotiations on enhancing the MLS as the main achievement of the session.
Treaty Secretary Kent Nnadozie thanked GB 9 for the extension of his appointment. GB 9 Chair El Bahloul expressed her appreciation to all participants, Secretariat, and conference staff, and closed the session at 7:47 pm India Standard Time.
The ENB summary and analysis will be available on Tuesday, 27 September.
All ENB photos are free to use with attribution. For the 9th Session of the ITPGRFA Governing Body, please use: Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
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Plenary Session
From L-R: Olivier Rukundo; Tobias Kiene; Francisco López, ITPGRFA Secretariat; and Yasmina El Bahloul, Chairperson, ITPGRFA GB 9
Halima Youssef Hassan, United Arab Emirates
Svanhild-Isabelle Batta Torheim, Norway
Olivier Rukundo and Tobias Kiene, ITPGRFA Secretariat
K.V. Prabhu, India
Gabriela Romanciuc, Republic of Moldova
Bienvenu Ntsouanva, Congo
Yasmina El Bahloul, Chairperson, ITPGRFA GB 9, and Kent Nnadozie, Secretary, ITPGRFA
Damas Mamba Mamba, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Desterio Ondieki Nyamongo, Kenya
Gertrude Ngo Bahoya Mbom, Cameroon
Mahaman Mourtala Issa Zakari, Niger
Riccardo Bocci, Italy
Members of the ITPGRFA Secretariat conferring during a break
Marcos Martínez, Uruguay
Ana Bedmar Villanueva, Spain
From L-R: Yasmina El Bahloul, Chairperson, ITPGRFA GB 9; Kent Nnadozie, Secretary, ITPGRFA; and Marliese von den Driesch, Germany
Meriem Rachidy, ITPGRFA Secretariat
Between Sessions
Imke Thormann, Germany, and Mario Marino, ITPGRFA Secretariat
Khaled Abulaila, Jordan, with Halima Youssef Hassan, United Arab Emirates
Samia Gaafar Mohamed Bitik, Sudan
ITPGRFA Secretariat family photo
Delegates from Canada, the US, Japan and Australia
Cultural Events
Around the Venue
The ENB team. From L-R: Wanja Moseti, Elsa Tsioumani, Elaine Limjoco, Asterios Tsioumanis, Tallash Kantai, and Mike Muzurakis