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Building Biosafety Capacity in Developing Countries:

Experiences of the UNEP-GEF Project

 

This report reflects on lessons from the still-ongoing UN Environment Program (UNEP)- Global Environment Facility (GEF) Project on Development of National Biosafety Frameworks (NBFs), the overall objective of which is to prepare countries to comply with the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety. To date, 126 countries have decided to participate in this global project. The main output of each national sub-project is a draft NBF, which had been completed by 40 countries as of May 12, 2005. Some of the key lessons highlighted in the report include: 1) the importance of learning and flexibility to ensure that a sub-project remains responsive to a country's changing needs; 2) setting realistic timeframes; 3) striking a balance between centralizing project management and maintaining a presence that is closer to the countries involved; 4) establishing internal knowledge sharing and management systems within each country; 5) the fact that information dissemination is critical for public participation; and 6) regional cooperation cannot be imposed by an external entity, but must be initiated by countries at their own pace and in response to their own needs. The 35-page report can be viewed online at the link below.