The programme was the sixth in a series of Global Training Programmes organised by UNEP every two years since 1993.

The GTP 6 was inaugurated by the Deputy Executive Director of UNEP, Mr. Shafqat Kakakhel on 24 November 2003. The Executive Director, Dr. Klaus Toepfer, addressed the participants on 27 November 2003.

The Division of Policy Development and Law received an unprecedented number of applications – over 250 applications from some 125 developing countries and countries with economies in transition – for participation in this year’s GTP. As requested by the Executive Director, the number of participants was increased from the originally envisaged number of 40 to 65 (see list of participants), in order to give as many countries as possible an opportunity to participate in the training programme. Unfortunately, 10 of the selected participants were unable to take part in the programme, due to personal reasons. The participants present represented a total of 50 countries.

The selection was based on giving first priority to those countries that had not participated in any of the five previous GTPs and to countries that participated in either the 1st or 2nd GTP in 1993 and 1995, respectively.

The following were some of the new features of this year’s GTP:
(1) Multi-stakeholder and multi-disciplinary group of participants including judges, parliamentarians, government officers engaged in the area of environmental policy and law, legal officers, legal NGOs involved in environmental advocacy and litigation, enforcement officers and academics in the field of environmental law;

(2) Establishment of UNEP Academic Contact Group on Environmental Law. The participation of some 20 distinguished professors on environmental law as resource persons, several of whom are already collaborating with UNEP in the preparation of the new UNEP Training Manual of Environmental Law, was used for setting up an open-ended UNEP Academic Contact Group on Environmental Law;

(3) Inter-active methodology. Every effort was made to make this year’s GTP highly inter-active using a variety of methodologies such as drafting sessions, moot courts, role playing, break-out sessions to analyse the re-argumentation of well known cases, drafting legislation/instruments of ratification etc.

Details of the Programme can be found in the Agenda.

The participants participated actively in the programme, both by holding presentations on the situation of environmental legislation and/or jurisprudence in their respective countries and by participating actively in the interactive exercises and in question and answer sessions. The GTP 6 also provided the opportunity for participants to exchange views, to share their problems, and to provide invaluable information and documentation for use by the other participants and UNEP.

The programme also hosted a ‘Multi-stakeholder forum on capacity building on policy and legal aspects of trade and environment’ that provided an opportunity for the participants and resource persons to provide suggestions on the capacity-building needs and possible responses in regard to the legal aspects of trade end environment within the framework of UNEP’s Environmental Law Programme.

The participants and the resource persons were requested to complete an evaluation form. The outcome of the evaluation is extremely positive: while 54% of the participants considered the programme as having been extremely useful, another 37% found it very useful, and 9% stated that they found the GTP useful. A report of the meeting is being prepared and will be posted on this website shortly as will be the reading material.