AWF Supports African Civil Society in Building A Strategic Framework

African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), alongside 18 Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and major groups across Africa, held the fifth high-level meeting via a conference call on May 8, 2020. Discussions at the meeting revolved around defining Africa’s position on the Convention of Biological Diversity(CBD) Framework. The two-hour meeting, chaired by Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka, Founder of Conservation through Public Health, aimed at getting buy-in on the final draft of the Africa CSOs CBD Vision Framework, rationalizing of working groups, and COVID-19 policy briefs.

This being the super year for biodiversity and nature, the 15th Conference of Parties (CoP) to the CBD was scheduled to be held between the October 15-18 this year, but in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was postponed indefinitely. The CBD CoP 15 plenary were scheduled to review the achievement and delivery of the CBD’s Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020 and provide the final decision on the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

The delegates that attended the meeting established the vision of the Framework: ‘Africa’s biodiversity thrives and underpins equitable, socially, and economically resilient livelihoods based on the rights of people to sustainably use their natural resources.’ This vision resonates well with the connection between nature and humanity.

The overall goal of the Framework is to ensure that the African civil society effectively engages with the development of the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework reflecting the values, rights, priorities, and needs of African people.