| Activities of the Capacity Building Project |
| |
|
African Strategy on Biosafety |
| |
|
African Model Law on Biosafety |
| |
|
Regional Biosafety Capacity Building |
| |
|
Supporting the AU Member States in International Negotiations |
| |
|
International Cooperation in the Field of Biosafety |
| |
|
Issue Papers |
| |
|
Technical Advice |
| |
|
Integration of Biosafety into the AUC |
|
Capacity Building for an Africa-Wide Biosafety System
| |
| Article 3 (d) of the African Union Constitutive Act:
The Objectives of the Union shall be to:
d. Promote and defend African common positions on issues of interest to the continent and its people
e. Advance the development of the continent by promoting research in all fields, in particular in science and technology
|
|
Overview
The AU Biosafety Project is a project on capacity building for an Africa-wide biosafety system. This Project is being implemented jointly by the AU and German Technical Cooperation (GTZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), and is part of a broader AU-German Cooperation. The target is to provide the AU Commission with the requisite competence and technical tools to assist its Member States in implementing the Cartagena Protocol and using the African Model Law on Biosafety. This project is under the Department of Human Resources Science and Technology. The Project also aims to integrate the topic biosafety into the political and institutional frameworks of the AU and into its support services for the Member States. The substantive activities of the Project have started in January 2006. Its duration is until the end of 2010 with a total budget of 2 million Euros.
Therefore the Project pursues the three objectives through various activities:
- Development of an AU Strategy to implement the provisions of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety and the African Model Law on Safety in Biotechnology and its application at national and regional levels
- Establishment of a Biosafety Office at the AU Commission headquarters
- Establishment of a Technical Advisors Committee
- Development of an African Strategy on Biosafety
- Revision of the African Model Law on Biosafety
- Supporting the Member States in implementing the Strategy, the Model Law and the Cartagena Protocol through regional workshops
- Supporting the Member States in implementing the Strategy, the Model Law and the Cartagena Protocol with issue papers on pertinent biosafety issues in Africa
- Strengthening the negotiation capacity of African delegates in international negotiations
- Convening of a meeting of African parliamentarians on biosafety issues
- Maintenance of a network of continuous information exchange between the AU Biosafety Unit and the National Focal Points of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety
- Establishment of a database of African biosafety experts
- Convening workshops with the National Focal Points
- Provision of strategic options to strengthen the existing technical and laboratory capacities at regional, sub-regional and national levels to identify GMOs and products thereof
- Conducting fact-finding missions and studies in the field of GMO detection, identification and GMO trade
|
|
|
|
|
|
