Notification 2016-075

Dear Madam/Sir, I am pleased to announce that, as part of the ongoing efforts to facilitate and support the effective implementation of the Convention and its Protocols, a new functionality has been implemented, initially through the Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS) Clearing-House to allow Parties, other Governments, indigenous and local communities and relevant stakeholders to share information on capacity-building initiatives as well as capacity-building resources to support the implementation of the Nagoya Protocol. This is an important development for a number of reasons. Firstly, sharing information on existing capacity-building initiatives through a central clearing-house would enable users to have a global overview of the status, trends and patterns in the coverage of capacity-building initiatives and help to identify and address gaps and overlaps in their coverage. Sharing such information would also provide opportunities for coordination among actors involved in capacity-building in the same geographical areas or covering similar thematic issues and help to improve synergy and complementarity among capacity-building initiatives, both at the design and implementation stages and minimize duplication of efforts. Secondly, having information on all existing capacity-building resources in a central virtual library would increase their visibility and provide a ‘one stop shop’ for broader and easier access by users. It would also help those involved in developing new resources to avoid the duplication of efforts and to easily identify gaps in terms of materials needed to support the implementation of the Protocol. Against this background, I wish to invite all Parties, other Governments, indigenous and local communities, and relevant stakeholders, in particular capacity-building providers, to publish relevant information about their ABS capacity-building initiatives (activities, projects and programmes) as well as capacity-building resources in the ABS Clearing-House. Anyone with a CBD account can publish this information in the ABS Clearing-House at: https://absch.cbd.int/signin?returnUrl=%2Fregister. Those without a CBD account can sign up for one at: https://accounts.cbd.int/signup. There is no need to have an account to search information in the ABS Clearing-House. To publish a capacity-building initiative and/or a capacity-building resource in the ABS Clearing-House, please follow the steps below: 1. Go to the ABS Clearing-House home page (https://absch.cbd.int) and sign-in with your CBD account   2. Click the “Submit” button on the horizontal bar menu 3. Under the section “Reference records” located at the bottom of the page, select the type of record you wish to publish (Virtual Library Record (VLR) - Capacity-building resources or Capacity-building Initiatives (CBI) 4. Click the “Add New” button located on the right-hand corner and complete the relevant sections. You are advised to save periodically 5. After completing the online format, click the "Request Publication" button to submit the record for publication For any questions or assistance regarding the ABS Clearing-House, please contact us at absch@cbd.int. In order to receive immediate technical support, a live chat help desk service has been made available on the website that allows interaction with Secretariat staff for technical help and guidance. In the coming weeks, users will also be able to publish and access information on capacity-building initiatives and capacity-building resources across all clearing-house platforms under the Convention (i.e. the clearing-house mechanism, the ABS Clearing-House and the Biosafety Clearing-House), in accordance with COP decision XII/2B, paragraph 8(f), and COP-MOP decision NP-1/8, paragraph 9. Please accept, Madam/Sir, the assurances of my highest consideration.

Executive Secretary

To: ABS National Focal Points, CBD National Focal Points (where ABS focal points have not yet been designated), International organizations, indigenous and local communities and relevant stakeholders