In late January, in Montreal for OCHA (the UN Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs) DH facilitated an international Bio-safety Clearing House (BCH) Training or Trainers Workshop during which preparations were finalized for the Global Bio-safety Project ll.  He had this to say about the workshop. 

 “I began working with the UN Environmental Program (UNEP) in 2002 to prepare for the initial 5 year project.  The international organizing conference was followed by two Training of Trainers Workshops, one held in India and the other in Kuala Lampur.  W’hat the project was/is trying to do is truly important.  Essentially it works with countries around the planet to identify, compile data on, track cross border movement of and monitor GMOs -- Environmentalists work together with Information Technology personnel to build government management and monitoring capacity as well as public awareness, public education and public policy linked to GMOs.    

In 2008, the project was completed.  A Bio-Safety Clearinghouse <bch.cbd.int> was set up in Montreal and more than 70 countries had begun reporting and sharing data on GMOs, genetically modified organisms (flora and fauna).  It took two years to put together the funding and the political support to launch phase ll.   This phase began in January with what I think is a bad combination of too little funding, too little time and too high expectations.  Like many other things these days, the project will do as much as it can with what little it has.”