Photo: Chris Mahon
Abbreviated to ‘WGNCD’, the IUCN Working Group for National Committee Development (Europe, North and Central Asia) celebrated its 60th monthly meeting on the 8th July.
Members in these regions are represented by 11 National Committees and 3 Country Focal Points in West Europe and 3 National Committees and 2 Country Focal Points in East Europe, North and Central Asia. The monthly meeting of WGNCD is their opportunity to maintain contact, share information, represent Members and actively participate in IUCN matters.
The WGNCD has been functioning since January 2013 with the approval of the then Director General, Julia Marton-Lefèvre at a meeting of National Committees in Copenhagen. At a subsequent meeting in Rome in September 2013, the ‘Rome Charter’ was signed, calling for an extended cooperation between the Members in the West Europe statutory region and the Members in the East European, North and Central Asia statutory region. The Rome meeting was followed by ‘in-person’ meetings in Stockholm (2014) and at the Helsinki Regional Conservation Forum (2015).
Since then the WGNCD has had monthly online meetings and held in-person meetings in Amsterdam, Brussels and Prague to help plan activities, such as:
- advising and promoting each of the last two Regional Conservation Fora, shared as a single event by the two regions
- coordinating the ‘Rome Charter’ which committed IUCN National Committees in the two regions to working together collaboratively
- produced guidance for the establishment of National Committees, now translated into three languages and used globally
- working with IUCN Commissions to seek a common agenda under the One Programme approach
- initiating ‘Project Postcard’ to seek and promote projects that IUCN Members were undertaking that contributed to the delivery of the IUCN Global Programme
- providing a model and some leadership for the formation of the Global Group for National and Regional Committee Development, approved as a resolution at the 2016 World Conservation Congress
- the last two WGNCD meetings have provided a platform for two of the candidates for the IUCN Presidency to communicate their visions of the Union, should they be elected by Members
The WGNCD has also discussed at length, agreed and coordinated the consultation with IUCN Members in the two regions for the establishment of an Interregional Committee, to join the other formally recognised IUCN Regional Committees in the Union. This proposal has now been supported by a majority of IUCN Members consulted and has been presented to IUCN Council. The next step will be seeking nominees to take up positions on the Interregional Committee and its launch at the World Conservation Congress in January 2021.
The 60th meeting is a milestone in the story of our international collaboration, but there is much more to do. We look forward to increasing participation and the group was particularly pleased to welcome the revival of the National Committee for Russia as a positive sign of the way ahead.
Text provided by Chris Mahon, Chair IUCN WGNCD
