Annual joint meeting between regional centres under Basel and Stockholm Conventions was held from 1-2 October 2012 and was participated by 20 Basel and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centres. The meeting was aimed at sharing information, experiences, best practices, success stories and challenges in their operation as well as discuss on how to maximize their effectiveness by cooperating and coordinating their work in their respective regions.
The meeting shared with the Regional Centres on the restructuring of the Secretariat and strategy on regional delivery of technical assistance. The meeting also discussed on the draft methodology on performance evaluation, on the preparation of the Business Plans/workplans for 2013-2014 and activity reports. Five centres shared their success stories in the areas of resource mobilization, training and capacity building, promoting effective partnerships and technology transfer.
On the efforts by the Secretariat to assist in the strengthening of the centres, the GEF Secretariat was invited to participate the meeting. The GEF representative informed the centres on possible opportunities available for them to access funding through the GEF. The Centres were also briefed on the Consultative process on financial options for chemicals and wastes by the UNEP representative. As an outcome of the meeting, the Secretariat is planning to organize a fair of projects with the possibility of meeting donors during the COPs in 2013.
Regional centres met in working groups by regions to share information and to discuss future cooperation and collaboration. The centres came up with proposals for future activities and projects, common newsletter, on-line meetings, mapping (global, regional) activities and enhancing the visibility of the Regional Centres’ work.