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accreditation and funding, one of the most important steps is to participate in the process itself (see Box
44). The other most important step is to report back to your community and further develop a strategy for
engagement in relevant international and national processes. The ultimate value of an international
process is how its outcomes are used at the local level to positively impact communities and the
environment. Draw on experiences with international processes to revisit the community’s priorities and
plans for putting the protocol into practice.
Write a submission in response to a specific call for information. This submission will be
considered by the Secretariat of the relevant process and potentially included in the information
documents for Parties to consider during the negotiations.
Attend coordination meetings and check in regularly with other community and civil society
organizations. Within the Convention on Biological Diversity, the International Indigenous Forum
on Biodiversity and the CBD Alliance are the main coordinating bodies.
Help prepare and read the opening statement, interventions throughout the negotiations, and the
closing statement. These require a good understanding of the issues and politics of the
negotiations, background research, and discussion with other community representatives in
attendance.
Discuss your views with government representatives (known as ‘Parties’) and lobby them to
support your position. In many intergovernmental negotiations, community and civil society
organizations require a Party to officially support their statements or interventions. You will get to
know which Parties are generally supportive of community concerns and which ones are generally
obstructive.
Host a side event to present a positive community initiative or collaboration, or to raise concerns
or questions about an issue that relates to the meeting. Prepare flyers and circulate reminders
over email and in coordination meetings to increase the number of people in attendance.
Box 44: Guidance for engaging in intergovernmental meetings
COMMUNITY EXPERIENCE:
Using Article 10(c) to Gain Recognition for Indigenous Peoples’ Territories and Customary Sustainable
Uses of Biodiversity
Resource: Adapted from material provided by the Forest Peoples Programme and South Central Peoples
Development Association
In 2002 and 2004, Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity requested practical information
about and examples of sustainable use of biodiversity
by Indigenous peoples and local communities. They
also asked for advice on how best to implement Article
10(c). In response, Indigenous peoples, local
communities, and supporting organizations (with
coordination by the Forest Peoples Programme) began
a project to document traditional practices and
customary sustainable uses of biodiversity in
Bangladesh, Cameroon, Guyana, Suriname, and
Thailand. They also developed recommendations for
effective implementation of Article 10(c) at the
national and local levels, upon which they based a
number of official submissions to the Secretariat of the
Convention on Biological Diversity.
Figure 23: Kid James, a member of the Wapichan
Indigenous community and South Central
Peoples Development Association, speaking at a
side event at the 7th Meeting of the Working
Group on Article 8(j) in 2011