Baghdad, 05 June 2018 – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Iraqi Ministry of Health and Environment conducted the first technical workshop on drafting the Sixth National Report (6NR) of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) to start the critical report preparation consistent with the highest standards of scientific and gender-responsive data analysis, with the purpose of informing the fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO5) and the Global Biodiversity Strategy of 2021 – 2030.

In the two-day workshop participated international experts, a cross-section of national biodiversity experts, senior representatives from the Ministries of Health and Environment, Agriculture, Planning, Water Resources, Higher Education, Iraqi Universities, several academic and research institutions and a number of NGOs working on biodiversity. All stakeholders who will play an important role in the process as data providers and in drafting the report chapters. The workshop was organized by the UNDP-Environment, Energy and Climate Change Program and funded by UNDP-Global Environment Facility (GEF). The framework for a time-bound preparation of the Iraqi national report will be set based on scientific data, reflecting thorough analysis of progress in the achievement of biodiversity-related national targets.

In his opening speech, The Deputy Minister for Health and Environment Dr. Jassim Al Falahi said: “Iraq's commitment to the Convention on Biodiversity requires us to complete the sixth national report within the time set by the General Secretariat of the Convention, and to mobilize all the necessary resources to complete the report”. He added: “the report will provide an opportunity to identify what has been accomplished by all relevant stakeholders in the field of biodiversity conservation, for the first three years of implementation phase of the National Strategy for Biodiversity 2015-2020”.

The Head of UNDP- Energy, Environment and Climate Change programme, Mr. Tarik ul-Islam highlighted the importance of adopting a participatory approach for the preparation of the Sixth National Report by the Government of Iraq. He said: “The report will benefit from the participation of all professional bodies to ensure that inputs in the report adhere to the highest standards of scientific analysis and global quality, leading to a report that Iraq will be truly proud of”.

The project was launched in March 2018 under the leadership of the Deputy Minister for Health and Environment of Iraq. A project steering committee for preparation of the 6NR Project has been established. Roles and responsibilities and the work plan has been approved for preparation of drafting the Sixth National Report, following a nationally-led and nationally-owned process.

Integrating gender mainstreaming perspective, the project focus on gender-responsive planning, gender-disaggregated data analysis, as well as on the involvement of women as stakeholders and participants in various project teams. In addition, the report will reflect Iraq’s contributions to the attainment of the global (Aichi Biodiversity Targets) to reflect the main issues addressed by the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda 2030.

With financial support from the GEF, the CBD Secretariat has received 181 fifth national reports. The information received from Parties has been used in the formulation of the Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and its Aichi Biodiversity Targets, the globally agreed framework to conserve, restore and sustainably use biodiversity and enhance its benefits for people.

This project proposes to enhance CBD’s efforts to build national reporting capacity by providing targeted and timely technical and financial support to a wide range of countries in an effective and cost-efficient manner. The project objective is to support parties to develop high quality, gender-responsive and data driven 6NRs, that are owned by stakeholders, and more accurately report on progress towards achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets (ATB)/ national Biodiversity Targets  and implementing National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plans (NBSAPs) using nationally verified data, with the purpose of informing the fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO5) and the Global Biodiversity Strategy of 2021 – 2030.

For additional information, contact:

Israa Mansour, Communications Assistant. (m): +964 780 447 3336