Global Biosafety Clearing-House Training Workshop for BCH National Focal Points and National Authorized Users

The Global Biosafety Clearing-House Training Workshop for BCH National Focal Points and National Authorized Users took place in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt on 24 November, in the margins of the ninth meeting of the Conference of the Parties serving as the meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (COP/MOP 9). Organized by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), the day-long interactive workshop was part of the third phase of a Biosafety Clearing-House (BCH) capacity building project. The workshop provided training on: the CBD's Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and its Nagoya's Kuala Lumpur Supplementary Protocol on Liability and Redress; parties' responsibilities to provide information to the BCH; the contents, structure, and functionality of the BCH; availability of online capacity-building resources; and the 2019 update to the BCH. Participants engaged in hands-on exercises to gain familiarity with registering and searching for information, and updating relevant country information. Participants also had the opportunity to exchange country and regional experiences.