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The Secretariat of the Minamata Convention on Mercury launched on Monday, 13 September an open call for proposals for official side events that will be organized during the Fourth meeting of the Conference of Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-4) on 1-5 November 2021.
Side events are an important part of the Minamata Convention Conferences of the Parties. They provide an opportunity to exchange information as well as bringing advances in technology, research, and materials of importance to the attention of Parties and to the global community that the Convention serves.
The call, which will close on Wednesday, 06 October, is addressed to Parties and major groups and stakeholders registered for COP-4. Please use the application form in Annex A, which can be found here. It is recommended that proposals closely follow the guidance set out in this note.
The Secretariat strongly recommends event organizers to propose events that:
- Address topical themes of importance to the Convention, e.g., impact of COVID-19 on mercury issue/areas and how to overcome these challenges; gender; technical innovations, outreach, and assistance; and policy innovation and development.
- Showcase impactful actions taken on mercury reduction or elimination.
- Involve and cooperate with other like-minded organisations, partners, and stakeholders.
- Use interactive and animated formats, to encourage dialogue and exchange, and to maximize the virtual format of the side event.
- Ensure diversity and inclusiveness in the selection of speakers and formats:
- The design and structure of the side event should facilitate broad stakeholder participation and should, where relevant include representatives from the civil society, the private sector, and the scientific community.
- The choice of lead speakers / contributors / panelists to the event lists should to the extent possible be geographically, generationally, and gender balanced, and should not exceed a maximum of 5 people.
After the deadline, the Secretariat will select the successful proposals and allocate time slots for the event. The Secretariat may propose merging multiple proposals into a single event.
It should be noted that organizers of side events will be fully responsible for the following tasks and responsibilities:
- Organizing and promoting the side event (a final decision on format will be taken at a later stage).
- Inviting panelists and speakers.
- Covering any expenses related to the participation of the panelists and speakers, e.g., communications allowance, etc. (if and as relevant).
- Mainstreaming the event beyond the Minamata Convention website so that it secures as broad an audience as possible.
- Preparing a short final report with a summary of the outcomes of the event for the purpose of being published on the Minamata Convention website; and
- Giving due consideration to any media / social media activities relating to side events, in cooperation with the Secretariat media team.
Please note online side events will be limited to 60 minutes in duration and conducted using the WebEx platform.
Requests for online side events can be made by Parties and registered observers using the present request form and submitted to Mr. Richard Gutierrez (richard.gutierrez [at] un.org (richard[dot]gutierrez[at]un[dot]org)) of the Minamata Secretariat, with copy to mea-minamatasecretariat [at] un.org (mea-minamatasecretariat[at]un[dot]org), by no later than 06 Oct. 2021.