Organization of work and practical arrangements 28 April-10 May 2013 Geneva, Switzerland David Ogden, Acting Chief, Convention Operations Branch, Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions 11 January ordinary and extraordinary meetings of the conferences of the parties

Geneva, 11 January 2013 Rome, 18 January 2013 Nairobi, 29 January 2013 Briefings for Permanent Missions

Organization of work Invitation letters Pre-registration and requests for financial assistance Credentials Effective participation by delegates Regional consultation Meetings website Outline

Bureaux agreed at their joint meetings on 13 – 14 December 2012 on: –Final dates of the meeting: Sunday 28 April – Friday 10 May 2013 –Schedule of the weeks –Holding a high-level segment on 9 – 10 May 2013 Venue: Geneva International Conference Centre (CICG) Regional, bureaux and other preparatory meetings will be held on Saturday, 27 April 2013 Organization of work

Bureaux in charge of daily schedule and planning of meetings Order and timing of sessions may change  take into account when doing travel arrangements Daily schedule posted every morning on the intranet site and communicated in regional groups meetings Regional groups working through bureaux members to ensure success of the meetings Limited number of contact groups running in parallel Organization of work (cont.)

IT infrastructure (paperless meeting) and social media to facilitate communication among delegates Twitter: – –Meeting announcements –CRP releases –Convention updates –Social networking Organization of work (cont.)

Invitation letters Communication on COPs arrangements, including invitation letters, was sent on 6 November 2012 Invitations in English, French and Spanish have been sent end of December to: –Ministries of Foreign Affairs –Official contact points (RC, SC), Focal Points (BC) –Copies sent to Permanent Missions in Geneva and Rome and other focal points under the conventions –Invitation letters for the high-level segment were also sent Funding for one participant per Convention for which an eligible country is party (i.e., up to 3 participants)

Pre-registration and requests for financial assistance Deadline for pre-registration and requests for financial assistance: 28 January 2013 –Coordinated requests for financial assistance to be made, indicating level of priority –Nominations are to be made through official channels, together with a nomination letter or a note verbale –Requests for financial assistance must be processed by the Secretariat at least six weeks prior to the meetings Contact person for registrations and credentials: Ms. Stephanie Cadet, Geneva,

Credentials need to be presented for representatives for the meetings of those conventions to which your country / regional economic integration organization is a party Credentials for all up to 6 meetings can be presented in one document To be submitted if possible no later than 24 hours after the opening of the meetings (i.e., by 10 a.m. on 29 April 2013) Submission of advance copies of the credentials facilitates the clearance process - originals to be submitted upon registration Contact person: Ms. Stephanie Cadet, Geneva, Credentials

Funding for one participant per Convention for which an eligible country is party (i.e., up to 3 participants) –Additional funding for one minister or deputy minister from each State that is party to at least one convention to attend the high ‑ level segment will be available Denmark, European Commission, Sweden and Switzerland have already provided funding for participants’ travel Effective participation by delegates

Regional consultation Information package will be sent to all contact points on behalf of bureaux members, copy to Permanent Missions –Elections of officers and members of subsidiary bodies –Current schedule of work –Bureaux meeting documents and report 11

Available from all conventions websites: Meeting documents –Agendas and first meeting documents are available –Budget documents by 28 January 2013 –Other documents by 28 February 2013 –Reduced total number of pages of meeting documents: from 1,860 at 2010/2011 COPs to 526 at 2013 COPs Registration form for parties and observers Information for participants (pdf file) Meetings website

Meetings website: Follow us onTwitter: Thank you.