Country Experiences with Implementation of the Bonn Guidelines on Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) in Africa

UNEP Initiative on Access and Benefit Sharing was launched by the Executive Director at the sixth Conference of the Parties (COP-6) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) held in the Hague in April 2002, which adopted the Bonn Guidelines on ABS. The UNEP Initiative on ABS takes note of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD)’s paragraph 44 (o) of its Plan of Implementation which 'calls upon the international community to negotiate, within the framework of the Convention on Biological Diversity and bearing in mind the Bonn Guidelines, an international regime to promote and safeguard the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising of the utilization of genetic resources'. In essence, the UNEP Initiative on ABS aims to mobilize resources to assist countries, particularly developing countries, in their efforts to strengthen and develop formal structures and relevant capacities for the effective implementation of the Bonn Guidelines in the context of other related provisions of the Convention pertinent to access to genetic resources and benefit-sharing.

To this end, with financial support from the Government of Ireland, UNEP in 2005 undertook and completed pilot studies on ABS in a few countries in Africa, namely, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Botswana, Ghana and Zambia. Under the first phase of this programme, experiences and challenges faced by these African countries in the course of the adaptation of the Bonn Guidelines and/or other complementary approaches to their existing national regimes were brought out. The case studies identified/highlighted activities undertaken or required to underpin and facilitate the effective national implementation of the existing ABS regimes or arrangements. The country study exercise also presented an opportunity for participating countries to identify and/or formulate specific options and/or issues to consider for possible inclusion in any new/proposed legislative, administrative and policy measures required (a) at national level to secure and safeguard any ABS arrangements that have been mutually or globally agreed, and/or (b) for consideration by the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group during the elaboration/negotiation of the international regime.

The second phase of the programme will mainly support activities, policies and measures that promote regional/sub-regional co-operation and collaboration, including regional/sub-regional awareness raising seminars/workshops as well as capacity building and human resources development for ABS.

List of activities

• Identification of stakeholders in ABS arrangements in including: government departments/agencies, national NGOs, commercial interests, academic interests, international NGOs, and representatives of local and indigenous people.
• Conducted a review of existing information on ABS activities including, regulatory and administrative arrangements in , and identify any significant gaps.
• Conducted inventory of current and proposed legislation pertaining to ABS.
• Conducted an inventory of ABS projects in each pilot country.
• Identified the main logistic constraints pertaining to ABS arrangements.
• Carried out 2 stakeholder workshops in each pilot country
• Carried out 2 review workshops.