The Sokoto State Cattle Breeding Project, the largest of its kind in the West African sub-region, will be inaugurated in May.
Cattle dealers
Alhaji Tukur Alkali, Commissioner for Animal Health and Fisheries Development, made this known when he conducted newsmen round the project site in Sokoto and Rabah Local Government Areas on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.
Alkali said that the project would improve the genetics of local cattle breeds by ensuring more milk and beef production.
According to him, this initiative will go a long way in empowering farmers with modern technique of livestock production.
“The government has spent N2.8 billion on the project inherited from the immediate past administration of Alhaji Aliyu Wamakko.
He said N1.5 billion was spent on acquisition of Argentinean cattle for cross-breeding, construction, training of personnel, provision of security and other logistics.
The commissioner added that N1.3 billion was for the purchase of equipment for the project.
He said the project was aimed at ending farmers/herdsmen clashes experienced across the federation, and in some neighboring West African countries.
“We hope to not only empower our farmers, but also impart modern knowledge on mechanised farming and cattle breeding techniques.
“About 13 cluster farms will be established to be run by private entities.
“All the cattle breeds will graze in these fields. We will also provide research centre and laboratory, veterinary services, among others,” he added.
NAN recalls that Sokoto State government had in 2010 signed a two billion Naira contract with an Argentine firm, South American Breeding Technologies (SABT), for the establishment of a cattle breeding, milk and beef production factory.
Based on the agreement, SABT will train and bring revolutionary changes in agriculture, genetic procedure, meat processing and milking machines.
The Federal Government says it will provide water and sanitation facilities for Sasa community in Akinyele Local Government Area of Oyo State to prevent outbreak of water-borne diseases in the area.
Suleiman Adamu Kazaure, Water Resources Minister
Mr Baba Galadima, Deputy Director, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), Response and Collaboration, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, said this in an interview with New Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Tuesday, January 23, 2018.
He also said that four local government areas in Kebbi State had been targeted for intervention in 2018, as part of efforts to expand the people’s access to water, sanitation and hygiene.
He said that the local councils were Bunza, Maiyama, Jega and Zuru of Kebbi State.
Galadima recalled that there were confirmed cases of cholera in Sasa community in Oyo State in 2016, with some casualties.
He said that the ministry would construct pour-flush toilets, which relied on the use of minimal water, in the neighbourhood to facilitate the cessation of open defecation, while improving the people’s lives through enhanced access to potable water.
He said that the water supply department of the ministry had promised to drill boreholes with hand pumps for the community.
The deputy director said that part of the strategy was to ensure that as the water was pumped from the boreholes, the same energy would be used to store water for toilet use.
Galadima said that the ministry and some development partners carried out a sanitation survey of Sasa community and found out that the residents were living in a very filthy environment.
He said that the ministry had been receiving reports of cholera outbreak in the area in the last seven years.
He said that the outbreaks were also confirmed by the Director of Disease Control in Oyo State Ministry of Health.
“The ministry had carried out WASH assessments in the community and it found that sanitation and hygiene practices in the neighbourhood were quite low.
“Faeces were seen all over the place and the community had no access to potable water; the lack of water also compounded the problems they were facing,’’ he said.
Galadima said that it was saddening to note that the community members, mostly settlers, paid taxes but they were, nonetheless, denied access to basic water and sanitation facilities.
He said that the team also visited to those who lost their loved ones in the cholera outbreaks and condoled with them.
He said that preparations were underway to provide water, sanitation and hygiene facilities for the people of Bunza, Maiyama, Jega and Zuru area councils in Kebbi under the 2018 procurement programmes.
He said that the sources of water for the communities in the four local government areas were very poor and unwholesome.
The deputy director stressed that the promotion of water, sanitation and hygiene in the country was imperative in efforts to reduce the menace of cholera outbreaks, particularly as they affected under-five children.
He said that efforts were underway to spur behavioual change in the citizens by adopting Community-Led Total Sanitation due to the dangers of oral-faecal transmission of diseases, especially from poor hygiene practices.
Medical experts believe that mental health indicates the level of psychological wellness or absence of mental illness in somebody.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Director for Africa. Photo credit: pbs.twimg.com
According to them, it is a psychological state of someone who is functioning at a satisfactory level of emotional and behavioural adjustment.
They note that mental health, therefore, needs the same attention as physical health to live a healthy and meaningful life.
In spite of this, stakeholders in health sector observe that in most cases, attention has been given to physical health through policies and laws; focusing on individual’s or communities’ physical wellness with little or no consideration for mental healthcare.
They note that this development has caused increase in the number of people affected and others who are living with various forms of the mental disorder as they are afraid to seek help.
For instance, the World Health Organisations (WHO) says more than 800,000 people worldwide commit suicide every year due to mental health condition characterised by abnormal thoughts, emotion, behaviour and relationships with others.
The organisation said 75 per cent of suicides occur in low and middle income countries, emphasising that mental disorders and harmful use of alcohol contribute to suicides around the world.
In her message to mark the 2017 World Mental Health Day, Dr Matshidiso Moeti, the organisation’s Regional Director for Africa, therefore, urged employers globally to treat mental health illnesses with the same urgency and seriousness as physical illnesses.
Moeti said that mental health was often neglected as a key aspect of employees’ health, noting that an estimated 10 per cent of the employed population globally had taken time off work because of depression.
She urged employers to modify risk factors for stress in the workplaces, create an organisational climate that promotes wellbeing and creativity to facilitate care for those who need it.
Moeti also urged employees to take steps to learn the signs and symptoms of a mental health problem and engage in prevention including talking about it.
“The relationship between workplace stress and poor mental healthcare is well established but mental health is often neglected as a key aspect of employee’s health.
“Symptoms such as difficulties in concentrating and making decisions cause significant impairment in productivity at work.
“At least, 50 per cent of people with depression do not receive treatment; and in African region, lack of information, stigma and cultural issues are significant barriers that prevent people from seeking help,’’ she said.
She called for individual and collective efforts towards addressing the causes and consequences of work-related stress.
Moeti also recommended mental health-friendly workplace programmes and practices that promote employees’ wellness and work-life balance.
She reiterated the critical impact of mental health problems on economic development, observing that productivity loss from absenteeism was substantial and appeared to be increasing.
Concerned by this comment, stakeholders in the health sector in Nigeria, therefore, urged agencies of government and international donor organisations to pay more attention to mental healthcare in the country.
Dr Olusola Ephraim-Oluwanuga, Chief Consultant Psychiatry at the National Hospital, Abuja, said there were more people with mental health problems than those living with HIV and AIDS and other diseases.
She expressed concern that more attention was even paid to people living with HIV and AIDS than those with mental health disorders.
She noted that the Federal Government had continued to rely on the eight mental health institutions available across the country without finding ways to expand service delivery.
“Since the colonial era, we have had eight psychiatric hospitals in the country only and this is where most of the resources concerning mental health are deposited.
“We are all aware that only this number of institutions cannot serve the large populace adequately.
“Imagine that there is one institution in Maiduguri and that is all for the north-eastern part of the country.
“There is also only one in Sokoto and that is all for the north-western part; state hospitals and teaching hospitals are supposed to have psychiatric departments.
“There is need for outreach posts in local governments so that these services can be extended to people at the grassroots,’’ Oluwanuga said.
She said that pockets of crises experienced in the country and around the world have reinforced the need to give more attention to mental health and the development of mental healthcare services.
Oluwanuga said that with each crisis, the number of individuals who suffered psychological trauma increased, observing further that at least one in four persons suffered some form of psychological trauma.
She, therefore, called for the implementation of the mental health policy to strengthen institutions and improve service delivery.
“Mental health is as important as physical health but you find that agencies of government and international organisations focus more on catering to the physical needs of the people rather than mental needs.
“Nigeria has mental health policy, but this policy is not being implemented; this is not a document that needs reviewing because it is in line with global health practices,’’ Oluwanuga said.
Irrespective of this, Mr Omotayo Hamzat, an official of the WHO, promised the commitment of the organisation to support non-governmental organisations and civil society groups to addressing issues of mental healthcare in Nigeria.
Similarly, President Muhammadu Buhari in his electioneering in 2015, made some promises to improve the health sector.
He promised an improved life expectancy, increased number of physicians and increased national health expenditure per person per annum.
He also promised to increase the quality of all federal government-owned hospitals to world- class standard within five years.
Although fulfilling some of the promises are faced with many challenges, concerned citizens insist that with stakeholders’ goodwill and the commitment of the Federal Government to ensuring an enviable health sector, mental healthcare will receive a boost.
The Cross River State Government on Tuesday, January 23, 2018 said it had begun the recovery of green areas in parts of Calabar, the state capital, in order to restore the town’s aesthetic values.
Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria
Mr Mike Eraye, the state Commissioner for Environment, said this on Tuesday while addressing newsmen in Calabar.
Eraye said that drainage channels in the city were also being cleared ahead of the commencement of the rainy season to avoid perennial flooding.
“What we are doing now is to recover the green areas and to clean the drains to allow free flow of water into the channels.
“We are preparing for the rains around April; we want to avoid flooding in parts of the city during the rains,’’ he said.
He alleged that some residents of Calabar were frustrating the efforts of the state government in maintaining the greenish status of the town.
“We did a lot before the carnival to clean up the city and now you can see that the drains are blocked again just few weeks after the event.
“Some residents who do not like the beauty and cleanliness of Calabar are bent on destroying it and frustrating our efforts,’’ he said.
According to him, the ministry has established a mobile court to try those flouting the sanitation laws of the state.
Eraye urged the residents to key into the state government’s vision of returning Calabar to its original status of most beautiful town in the country.
“I also want to tell the residents that they should desist from carrying out trading activities in the green areas.
“Anybody found violating the environmental laws of the state will be punished accordingly,’’ he warned.
The commissioner accused some big business concerns such as petrol stations of harbouring traders in their premises, thereby destroying the green areas.
According to him, government will take appropriate actions against such businesses while it takes measures to recover the green areas.
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has asserted that enforcing tobacco control laws in Nigeria is everyone’s duty; hence all hands must be on deck to ensure that the laws are implemented to the letter.
L-R: Oluseun Esan, programme manager of Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA); Akinbode Oluwafemi, deputy executive director of ERA/FoEN; and Philip Jakpor, ERA/FoEN Head of Media and Campaigns, at the media briefing in Lagos on Monday, January 22, 2018
Akinbode Oluwafemi, deputy executive director of ERA/FoEN, told newsmen at a press briefing in Lagos on Monday, January 22, 2018 that the delayed implementation of the National Tobacco Control (NTC) Act three years after the bill was signed into law was dangerous.
He, however, disclosed that ERA might take to street protests to drive home its point, “since it seems to be the language the government understands.”
For the non-governmental organisation, tobacco companies have proved to be recalcitrant in keeping to the regulations on tobacco use, which necessitated the mass action.
“Despite our wish to have a prosperous and smoke-free New Year, a quick analysis of some of the activities of the tobacco corporations as 2017 drew to a close show that the industry is unrepentant and will continue operating with the same impunity in 2018 unless concrete actions are taken to checkmate their activities by all levels of government,” ERA said.
Accusing the companies of underhand transactions, Olufemi cited some media reports last year indicting some big corporations.
“A Guardian of UK report in August 2017 accused British America Tobacco (BAT) of paying militias instead of taxes to governments, introducing illegally huge amounts of money into war-ravaged Democratic Republic of Congo for fraudulent transactions, collaborating with rebel groups to conduct business, and providing firearms to its employees, among others, while it still claims to adhere to highest business and ethical standards,” he said.
He also quoted Reuters news agency as reporting a more damning story of the same company. “A Reuters report linked the tobacco giant to years of secret global campaign to undermine the World Health Organisation Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC). It was also enmeshed in controversies of a so-called Foundation for a Smoke-free World, which it announced it would fund to the tune of $80 million over a period of eight years. It is remarkable that WHO distanced itself from that Foundation and asked global governments to do same.”
Considering the lack of enforcement of the regulations on tobacco, Oluwafemi disclosed that ERA might take to protests to drive its point home, “since it seems to be the language the government understands.”
On the trend of tobacco companies using celebrities to promote their products, ERA said: “Something serious needs to be done about using the entertainment industry to promote tobacco.”
Also at the briefing were Oluseun Esan, the programme manager of Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance (NTCA); and Philip Jakpor, ERA Head of Media and Campaigns, among others.
The Deputy Governor of Taraba, Alhaji Haruna Manu, on Monday, January 22, 2018 said the state government would implement the anti open grazing law gradually.
Open grazing
Manu disclosed this in media briefing shortly after a closed door meeting with traditional rulers in the state.
He said there would be aggressive awareness campaigns across the state before the implementation of the law, scheduled to take effect as from Jan. 24, 2018.
He added that traditional rulers in the state had accepted ranching as best option to feed and take care of animals, noting, however, that implementation would be in phases.
The deputy governor said “our anti open grazing law which is slated to take off on Jan. 24 would be implemented gradually.
“The Taraba Government would establish pilot ranches in the three zones of the state and carry out aggressive awareness campaigns in the state, local government and ward levels.”
He urged the people of the state not to politicise the law, saying it was meant to enhance peaceful coexistence between herdsmen and farmers.
Similarly, a civil society organisation (CSO), Search for Common Ground, on Monday in Abuja urged the Benue State Government to review its Open Grazing law to end perceived discrimination against individuals or groups in the state.
Dr Chris Kwaja, Research Fellow of the organisation, made the call after its investigations into the “Implication of Open Grazing Prohibition Laws’’ between farmers/herdsmen in the Middle Belt region of the country.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that report of the investigations was made available to newsmen.
The report said that while legislation could be useful in addressing drivers of conflicts, it should not be used as a panacea.
It added that while the law was enacted in response to incessant conflicts between farmers and herdsmen, its effectiveness to manage the conflict was yet to be determined.
“There is a clear distinction between the procedure and mechanism for land acquisition with respect to citizen’s of Nigeria who are not indigenes of Benue on one hand and the indigenes of the state.
“There is the need for the Benue government to review this procedure and mechanism procedures for land acquisition to remove clauses that are discriminatory.
“The law and its implementation deepened division between farmers and herdsmen in the state so the government needs to counter the narrative that the law is to evict herdsmen.
“The government also needs to facilitate a platform to address the concerns of herdsmen and lastly ensure farmers, herdsmen and relevant experts jointly develop inclusive and gradual implementation plan for the law.’’
The report said that the multi-stakeholder engagements should also be a platform for the parties to highlight aspects of the law that could be interpreted as discriminatory and recommend possible amendments of such aspects.
The report also urged Benue government to look beyond the “binary do or do not open grazing options’’ to identify alternatives with incentives that would attract herdsmen to gradually embrace ranching in line with the law.
It further advised the government to engage investors to invest in industrial ranching and develop incentives to stimulate ordinary herdsmen to establish subsistence and community –based ranches in the short, medium and long term.
This, it said would aid in curbing the diverse implications of the law across economic, cultural, security and religious dimensions.
It said that the situation in Benue had presented a unique opportunity for state governments to be conflict sensitive in the development and implementation of legislation that addresses the farmer-herdsmen conflict in Nigeria.
Tomato growers in Kano State have lost over N1 billion this dry season farming following the recent closure of Tiga Dam by the Hadeja-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA).
A dam in Nigeria
The Secretary General of the Tomato Growers Association of Nigeria (TOGAN), Alhaji Sani Danladi-Yadakwari, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kano, the state capital, on Monday, January 22, 2018.
According to him, the closure of the water from the dam which is the main source of water for irrigation activities at all irrigation sites in the state had negatively affected tomato production this irrigation season by 60 per cent.
“Kano State is producing over 400,000 metric tons of tomato every dry season because farmers cultivate over 2,000 hectares of irrigable land.
“So the recent closure of the dam by the Hadeja-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority has affected 60,000 of our production due to drought,” he said.
According to him, tomato growers in the state had lost 250,000 tons of the commodity which represents 60 per cent of their total production.
He said the water which was closed for over 40 days would affect bumper harvest of the commodity as most of the tomato farms had experienced serious water shortage during the period.
“Many of our members had planted the tomato when suddenly the HJRBDA closed the dam and the closure had affected our farms.
He, therefore, advised the authority to always notify critical holders whenever they wanted to conduct maintenance of facilities at the dam site to avoid a repeat of similar problem.
“The authority should have given us and all other irrigation farmers three weeks notice before the commencement of maintenance at the dam.
“But they did not tell us until after they started the work and the closure had affected many tomato farms at Kura, Garunmalam, Bunkure and some parts of Rano irrigation sites,” he said.
According to him, the association had written to the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Chief Audu Ogbeh, over the issue with a view to finding a lasting solution to the problem. When contacted, the Public Relations Officer of the Hadeja-Jama’are River Basin Development Authority (HJRBDA), Alhaji Salisu Baba-Hamza, said the authority had contacted Chairman and Secretary of the water users association before the commencement of the maintenance at the dam.
In addition, he said, the management of the HJRBDA had sponsored jingles announcement for one week on some radio stations before the repairs of the affected place was started at the dam.
According to him, the repairs of the affected place was necessary in order to avoid possible collapse of the embankment of the dam.
“What happened was that the outlet of Tiga Dam which supply water to the channels collapses and water was going through a place where it could affect the embankment of the dam.
“The project manager reported the issue and management had to close the outlet in order to effect repairs of the affected area.
“So, it is not true that the farmers were not contacted before the closure of the dam,” he said.
The Tiga Dam provides irrigation for the farmers of Kano. It is a major reservoir on the Kano River, the main tributary of the Hadejia River. The dam was built during the administration of Governor Audu Bako in an attempt to improve food security through irrigation projects.
The Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) has welcomed steps by both chambers of the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB).
Executive Secretary of NEITI, Waziri Adio
The decision of the Senate and the House of Representatives to consider the bill as priority resulting in its eventual passage is bold, courageous and progressive, says NEITI, given the challenges the bill has passed through in its legislative journey for over 10 years.
NEITI, as an agency set up to enthrone transparency and accountability in the management of extractive industries in Nigeria, has legitimate interest in the PIGB.
NEITI says its interest is in view of the urgency and strategic importance of a new law to replace the existing archaic legislations that have aided huge revenue losses, impeded transparency, accountability and investment opportunities in the nation’s oil and gas industry.
NEITI recalls that, as an anti-corruption agency in the sector, it boldly alerted the nation last year through a special Policy Brief – titled: “The urgency of a new petroleum sector law” – that the current stagnation of investment opportunities in the Petroleum Industry was as a result of the absence of a new law for the sector. This, adds NEITI, has led to huge revenue losses to the tune of over $200 billion. In the publication, NEITI argued that the “revenue losses were as a result of investments withheld or diverted by investors to other (more predictable) jurisdictions.” The publication added that “the hedging by investors stems from the expectation that the old rules would no longer apply, but not knowing when the new ones would materialise.”
In addition, NEITI reports in the sector had also disclosed that over $10.4 billion and N378.7 billion were lost through under-remittances, inefficiencies, theft or absence of a clear governance framework for the oil and gas industry. The total cost to the nation in 2013 alone was N1.74 trillion largely as a result of the absence of a new law.
NEITI is optimistic that, with the new governance law for the industry, such huge revenue losses to the nation as a result of process lapses and outright stealing will be strictly checked if not eliminated.
Furthermore, NEITI notes that the implementation of the global Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative which Nigeria is a key signatory, have over the years been frustrated by the absence of a dynamic law that suits modern business modules and trends in the ever evolving oil and gas industry.
NEITI remains convinced that the PIGB, when assented to by the President, will provide “a dynamic governance framework required to re-position the Petroleum industry to fully embrace competition, openness, accountability, professionalism and better profit returns on investments to both companies and government”.
NEITI notes that it is encouraged that the National Assembly in this particular instance threw politics aside and dealt with the PIGB issue with the attention it deserves. The PIGB, now passed and ready for possible Presidential assent, is a product of this creative initiative, stresses NEITI.
NEITI also commends the media, civil society, development partners, industry, stakeholders and experts who it says have followed the bill in the National Assembly for their valued contributions to what has been achieved so far.
While hoping for early Presidential consideration and assent to the bill, NEITI says it hopes to work with multi-stakeholders, development partners and the industry to set the stage for informed stakeholders’ engagements to ensure effective implementation when the bill becomes law.
“Finally, we call on all the media, the civil society and above all the National Assembly to show similar coordinated attention to commence legislative process in the remaining legal frameworks in the industry especially the Petroleum Industry Fiscal Bill and the Host Communities Bill. These two key pending legislations will help complement and strengthen the provisions of the PIGB,” adds NEITI.
The Republic of Burundi on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 deposited its instruments of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, making the East Africa nation the 174th Party to the global treaty.
Pierre Nkurunziza, President of Burundi. Photo credit: The Telegraph
According to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Burundi’s ratification will come into force on February 16, 2018.
Previously, Macedonia (173rd), Montenegro (172nd), DR Congo (171st), Syria (170th), Nicaragua (169th), Switzerland (168th), the Czech Republic (167th), Dominican Republic (166th) and Cape Verde (165th) had deposited their instruments of ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
Before this, Liechtenstein (164th), Ecuador (163rd), Myanmar (162nd) and Bhutan (161st), had also ratified the treaty.
The Paris Agreement was adopted on December 12, 2015 at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) held in Paris, France from November 30 to December 13, 2015.
On December 12, 2017 governments and representatives from all over the world gathered in Paris at the instance of French President, Emmanuel Macron, to celebrate the two-year anniversary of the Paris Agreement at the One Planet Summit. The Summit presented an opportunity to reaffirm global climate commitments to combat climate change and to emphasise the transition from negotiation to implementation of the Paris Agreement.
The Paris Agreement entered into force on November 4, 2016, 30 days after the date on which at least 55 Parties to the Convention accounting in total for at least an estimated 55% of the total global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions have deposited their instruments of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession with the Depositary.
The Paris Agreement builds upon the Convention (UNFCCC) and – for the first time – brings all nations into a common cause to undertake ambitious efforts to combat climate change and adapt to its effects, with enhanced support to assist developing countries to do so. As such, it charts a new course in the global climate effort.
The Paris Agreement’s central aim is to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels and to pursue efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Additionally, the agreement aims to strengthen the ability of countries to deal with the impacts of climate change. To reach these ambitious goals, appropriate financial flows, a new technology framework and an enhanced capacity building framework will be put in place, thus supporting action by developing countries and the most vulnerable countries, in line with their own national objectives. The Agreement also provides for enhanced transparency of action and support through a more robust transparency framework.
The secretariat of the Minamata Convention has disclosed that its Specific International Programme (SIP) received support from Denmark, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Dalia Grybauskaitė, President of Lithuania
This is even as the Government of Lithuania deposited its instrument of ratification on Monday, January 15, 2018 thereby becoming the 86th Party to the Minamata Convention.
The Minamata Convention on Mercury (“Minamata Convention”) is an international environmental convention for global community to work collaboratively against mercury pollution. It aims at achieving environmentally sound mercury management throughout its life cycle. The Convention was adopted at the diplomatic conferences held in Minamata City and Kumamoto City in October 2013.
The 1st Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention (COP1), which gathered governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations from around the world, held in Geneva, Switzerland from September 24 to 29, 2017.
The mercury accord entered into force on Thursday, May 18, 2017 after having garnered the required 50 ratifications.
The Minamata Convention’s SIP is one of the two mechnisms for the provision of adequate, predictable, and timely financial resources. The second is the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund.
The Mechanism is to support developing country Parties and Parties with economies in transition in implementing their obligations under the Convention.
The SIP is being operated under the guidance of and be accountable to the Conference of the Parties, which at its first meeting in Geneva decided on the existing entity’s hosting institution.
All Parties and other relevant stakeholders are supposed to provide financial resources to the Programme, on a voluntary basis.
The Global Environment Facility Trust Fund, on the other hand, shall provide resources to meet the agreed incremental costs of global environmental benefits and the agreed full costs of some enabling activities.
Prior to Lithuania, Armenia (December 13, 2017; 85th Party), Lebanon (October 13, 2017; 84th Party) as well as Croatia and Argentina (September 25, 2017; 83rd) had ratified the treaty.
