The 14th of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt from November 13 to November 29.
For the COP, SGP Egypt organized a beautiful community space, dubbed the Majlis (Arabic word for community gathering place) brought local culture to the COP with beautiful traditional design and community products from SGP grantees. The space was sponsored by the Government of Egypt.
During the opening ceremony of the Majlis, Minister Yasmine Fouad of the Government of Egypt highlighted her long-term engagement and the importance of involving communities in making a change for the global environment. Extensive coverage by IISD ENB of the opening ceremony space can be found here and on the space here.
Together with partners, SGP organized the Nature Culture Summit with indigenous peoples and local communities, which included a field trip to Ras Mohammed National Park and two days of lively discussions. At the opening, Executive Secretary of the CBD Christiana Pasca Palma and Minister of Environment of Egypt Ms. Yasmine Fouad spoke in support of the importance of the IPLC in conserving biodiversity. This was followed by two key panel discussions later in the week.
The Summit closed with a cultural reception celebrating SGP’s 25th anniversary, together with the 20th anniversary of the Indigenous Women’s Biodiversity Network. IISD coverage of this event can be found here.
During the week, SGP also launched the Gender and Biodiversity online module of the Open Online Course on Gender and Environment, together with CBD, UNDP and others. The course was launched at the GEF Assembly in June, over 4,000 people have registered and over 1,000 have taken a course and received certificates. Throughout the COP, SGP was represented by the SGP IP fellows, including 4 global and 2 national fellows who shared of their experiences and work on biodiversity, climate change, and traditional knowledge.
As we are wrapping up the celebrations of SGP's 25th anniversary and in the context of CBD COP 14, Global Director Yoko Watanabe wrote a blog piece, which can be accessed here.