The Regional Workshop on National Reporting of Basel Convention for Arab States

Venue: Sonesta Pharaoh Beach Resort, Qesm Hurghada, Red Sea

Background:  National reporting was one of the three technical issues identified to advance cooperation and collaboration among the three conventions. Reporting is critical element for the National Focal points responsible for the collection of information and for the preparation of the national reports that are submitted annually to the Secretariat of Basel Convention.

Working Language: English only

Organizer: BCRC-Egypt with the assistance of SBC organised a two days Regional workshop in Hurghada, Egypt, in December, 2013, for the Arab states focal points of Basel Convention.

Meeting Objectives:  The workshop objectives were to to raise the efficiency of focal points and homelands rationing officials for information gathering and preparation of national reports submitted annually to the General Secretariat of  Basel Convention, to identify difficulties faced by a number of countries to provide information on the management of hazardous waste in accordance with Article 13, paragraph 3, of the Convention, to assist the participating countries in meeting their reporting obligations under Basel Convention, to provide guidance on methods of developing national inventories and to establish networking opportunities and information exchange within countries in the region as well as with relevant international bodies and other stakeholders.

Target Audience:  The official National Focal points assigned by the Parties under article (5) of the Convention; or those, responsible for collection of data and information required for filling and submitting the national report on behalf of their countries. Fourteen participants from thirteen Arab countries attended this workshop; Kingdom of Bahrain, Union of the Comoros, Republic of Djibouti, Arab Republic of Egypt, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, Lebanese Republic, Islamic Republic of Mauritania, Kingdom of Morocco, Palestinian Authority, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Republic of the Sudan, Tunisian Republic, and Yemeni Republic. Among the 14 participants, there were 3 female participants.

Outcome

The workshop drew the attention to the importance of the national reporting and also showed that most of the Arab states needs more work to efficiently fulfill their national report requirements. The objective was successfully achieved that the participants demanded to have another workshop as a follow up for this workshop and to give more focus on the electronic submission system. Based on the Arab states delegates’ request, BCRC-Egypt agreed to organize and host the Second Regional Workshop on National Reporting of Basel Convention for Arab States in Cairo, Egypt.

 Recommendations

• Participants highlighted the importance of repeating the workshop to assist parties of Basel Convention in the submission of their national reports.
• Demand Basel Convention Secretariat to conduct more awareness workshops about the operation of the new electronic reporting system through the webinar.
• Demand BCRC to strongly focus and conduct training and awareness workshops on the crucial issues likewise the reporting issue
• Demand Basel Convention Secretariat to allocate the necessary technical support for BCRC to conduct training and awareness sessions on the following issues:
• National Inventories.
• Take-back of waste shipments.
• Recycling of specific waste streams.
• Participants discussed challenges facing reporting process and who should do that nationwide, ideas came to the panel to establish a national frame like inter -ministerial committee to support gathering information and data required for the report
• Participants showed a strong will to find a space for networking using CBCRC as a hub for the data and information.
• Arab Countries which didn`t attend this workshop are strongly encouraged to attend the second workshop to be organized by BCRC-Egypt in March, 2014.