The Government of Haiti takes part in the 14th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP14) taking place in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, from 17th to 29th of November 2018. UN Environment Haiti country office, upon request from the government, is providing technical support to the participation of the Haitian delegation to this crucial event which informs negotiations to define common strategies for worldwide biodiversity.

The Haitian delegation is represented by the Director of the Biodiversity Direction which is also the focal point for the Rio Convention and by UN Environment Haiti environmental governance specialist. Particular focus is made on themes considered as strategic during the consultation workshop with stakeholders for the definition of national priorities. Thus the delegation is following closely discussions related to:

• marine biodiversity

• invasive exotic species

• responsibility and reparation

• guarantees in funding mechanisms for biodiversity

• fight against climate change effects on biodiversity

• integration of biodiversity in sector-specific public policies

• elaboration of the post-2020 strategy for biodiversity

On the sideline of the negotiations, Haiti participated in a parallele event organized by the French-speaking Institute for Sustainable Development (IFDD) and moderated by the European Union, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS), Madagascar and Haiti. The Haitian delegation presented its experience in creating marine protected areas as a strategy for disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and integrated regional development (taking into account the work done in the south of the country).

IH/ iciHaiti