Information for Participants

Download the Information for Participants brochure in English, French or Spanish.

Venue of the meeting

The meeting of the Open-ended Working Group will be held at the following venue:
Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG)
17 rue de Varembé
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
Tel.: + 41 (0) 22 791 9111
Fax: + 41 (0) 22 791 9064
Internet: www.cicg.ch 

Registration

The names and contact information of your designated representatives (including postal addresses, telephone numbers, facsimile numbers and e-mail addresses, where available) should be communicated to the Secretariat of the Basel Convention using the registration form. Please refer to the invitation letter for further details or contact:


Ms. Stéphanie Cadet
Ninth meeting of the Open-ended Working Group
Secretariat of the Basel Convention
United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
International Environment House 1 (IEH-1)
11-13 chemin des Anémones
CH-1219 Châtelaine
Switzerland
Tel.: + 41 (0) 22 917 83 24
E-mail: Stephanie.cadet@brsmeas.org


On-site registration will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, 15 September, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 16 September, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the remaining days of the meeting.

More information on necessary security identification documentation is available here.

Schedule of the meeting

Preparatory meetings, including regional and Bureau meetings, will be held on Monday, 15 September 2014. Information on the preparatory meetings will be announced. The meeting will be opened at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 16 September 2014. The working languages of the meeting will be Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish. Pursuant to paragraph 2 of decision BC-11/19, on Tuesday, 16 September, and Friday, 19 September, simultaneous interpretation into those languages will be provided in plenary sessions. On Wednesday, 17 September, and Thursday, 18 September, technical meetings, including contact group meetings, will be held in English only.

Side events

Requests for side events should be sent no later than 15 August 2014 to:

Ms. Andrea Lechner
Secretariat of the Basel Convention
E-mail: andrea.lechner@brsmeas.org
Tel.: +41 (22) 917 88 53


Up to two side events can be held in parallel during lunch breaks and in the evenings following the plenary sessions. If more requests for side events are received than there are slots available, organizers of side events may be invited to organize joint events. As the number of slots available for side events is limited, they will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis.

A draft schedule of side events will be published approximately three weeks prior to the meeting.

Exhibitions and the sending of promotional material

Requests for exhibitions should be sent no later than 15 August 2014 to:

Mr. Christophe Marchat
Secretariat of the Basel Convention
E-mail: christophe.marchat@unep.org
Tel.: +41 (22) 917 81 73


Promotional or exhibition materials may be sent directly to the conference centre from 1 September 2014 at the following address:

C/o. Ms. Marina Bartolomei
Project Manager
BC OEWG-9
Centre International de Conférences Genève (CICG)
17 rue de Varembé
CH-1211 Geneva 20
Switzerland
E-mail: m.bartolomei@cicg.ch
Tel.: + 41 (0) 22 791 9063
Fax: + 41 (0) 22 791 90 64


Paperless meeting

The meeting will be paperless; printed documents will not be available at the meeting. Pre session documents will be made available on the meeting documents page and in session documents (such as conference room papers) will be available electronically via wireless intranet or memory stick only.

Making a meeting paperless considerably reduces its cost and carbon footprint. A paperless meeting also makes it easier for participants to locate documents and allows for the faster preparation and distribution of conference room papers.

To facilitate the paperless nature of the meeting, participants are requested to ensure the following:

  • Each participant should bring a laptop computer containing basic applications, including Microsoft Office Word, Excel and PowerPoint, Adobe Acrobat Reader and updated antivirus software.
  • Laptops should be pre-checked for viruses and confirmed as virus-free prior to arrival at the meeting. Virus free laptops are crucial to the success of a paperless meeting.
  • Participants should bring a memory stick that has been pre-checked for viruses for the purpose of transferring documents.
  • Laptops should be configured for a standard wireless (wi-fi) connection. If in doubt, please check with your local information technology expert.
  • Participants should bring an appropriate adaptor to enable laptops to be connected to Swiss power sockets.
  • When completing the meeting registration form, participants should include a current e-mail address so that they can be sent correspondence relating to the meeting.

Visas

It is the responsibility of each participant to obtain the required entry visa for Switzerland. Please note that a Schengen visa is required even for transiting through Schengen zone European countries. Visas must be obtained prior to arrival.

More information is available from the Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland at the following link: http://www.eda.admin.ch/eda/en/home/reps.htm.

Insurance

It is strongly recommended that delegates take out international medical, accident and travel insurance. The United Nations does not cover life or medical insurance for participants. Therefore, it is the responsibility of all participants to ensure that they obtain adequate insurance prior to their travel to Geneva. Participants travel at their own risk.

Accommodation

It is the responsibility of participants to make their own arrangements for accommodation. The Secretariat encourages all parties to make such arrangements at the earliest possible opportunity.

An updated list of hotels offering preferential rates to the United Nations is now available.

Local transportation and security

Once in Geneva, reaching the conference centre is simple. The international airport (Geneva Cointrin) is some 5 kilometres from the conference centre, a journey of approximately 10 minutes by taxi (see access map at http://www.cicg.ch/en/access-map). The main railway station (Geneva Cornavin) is 2 kilometres from the conference centre, and the two are linked by public transport (tramway and bus) and by taxi.

Public transport in Geneva (http://www.tpg.ch)
is fast, frequent, safe and clean. Bus number 10 links the airport with downtown Geneva, with connections approximately every eight minutes, and train services are also available. The Unireso ticket, offered by the Geneva airport authority, allows the free use of public transport in the city for a period of 80 minutes. Unireso tickets can be obtained from the machine in the baggage collection area at the arrivals level of the airport.

The conference centre can be reached from the main railway station by taking bus number 5 (alight at either the Vermont stop or the Varembé stop), bus number 8 (alight at the International Telecommunications Union stop) or tram number 13 or 15 in the direction of Nations (alight at Sismondi).

Taxis are easily available and safe, but comparatively expensive. If you need a taxi, call 022 320 22 02 or 022 331 41 33.

Although Geneva is a comparatively safe place and violent crime is rare, the incidence of pickpocketing and theft has increased considerably over the last few years. Participants are advised to pay particular attention at the airport, around the Cornavin railway station and in the Paquis district of the city, and to not leave their luggage unattended at any time.

Electricity

Participants are kindly requested to bring their own power adaptors.

Voltage: 230 volts
Frequency: 50 Hz
Plug/socket: C (CEE 7/16) , J

C (CEE 7/16)- photo Wikimedia Commons plug J - photo Wikimedia Commons

Currency

Swiss franc (CHF). Average exchange rates: 1 United States dollar ≈ 0.9 CHF; 1 euro ≈ 1.2 CHF.

Restaurants

The CICG bar and restaurant are located on the ground and first-floor levels. Other cafes, restaurants and shops are within walking distance of the CICG.

Other useful information