GFDD and FUNGLODE Will Partner with PADF and World Wide Views to Convene Dominican Chapter of Citizen Dialogue on Biodiversity

Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD), together with its sister institution in the Dominican Republic, Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), will partner with the Pan American Development Foundation (PADF) and World Wide Views to convene the Dominican chapter of the Citizen Dialogue on Biodiversity. The
event will be celebrated on Saturday, September 15, 2012, during the initiative “World Wide Views on Biodiversity,” organized by the Technology Council of Denmark, with support from the United Nations Convention on Biodiversity.

The initiative seeks to bridge the gap between civil society and policy makers in order to widen democratic processes and stimulate citizen involvement in decision making on matters of global concern. On September 15, citizens
around the world will attend meetings to discuss current challenges impacting biodiversity. Meetings of “World Wide Views on Biodiversity” will take place simultaneously in 34 locations, in 25 countries, in 5 continents. In each location, upwards of 100 persons will have the opportunity to become informed and debate topics pertaining to biodiversity, including terrestrial and marine biodiversity, as well as responsibility of and share in benefits resulting from the
management of genetic information.

All meetings, irrespective of location, will follow the same agenda to ensure for a cohesive output that will be relevant to international policy makers.

Participating countries include: Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, Canada, United States, Brazil, Bolivia, Dominican Republic, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Denmark, France, Germany, China, India, Indonesia,
Japan, the Maldives, Nepal, Palestine, Philippines and Vietnam.

The loss of biodiversity is closely related to human activity (unsustainable agriculture, over-fishing and infrastructure among others) and the persons most affected are ordinary people. The participation of citizens in decision making processes contributes to assuring that the policies that come out of the Convention on Biological Diversity reflect a high-level of legitimacy and support for their
implementation at the Member State level once they are translated into plans of action. These plans of action will only be successful if they are met with acceptance and community involvement.

The methodology implemented by World Wide Views was realized previously in 2009, when the organization coordinated the global citizen dialogues on climate change prior to the conference celebrated in Copenhagen.

Participating organizations in the Dominican
Republic include: Global Foundation for Democracy and Development, Fundación Global Democracia y Desarrollo (FUNGLODE), Consorcio Ambiental Dominicano (CAD) (Dominican Environmental Consortium) and ECORED.

For more information visit: www.biodiversity.wwviews.org
Or send an email to: ceguive@me.com / y.eusebio@funglode.org / julioadini@hotmail.com

Related links:
www.drenvironmentalfilmfestival.org
www.environmentaldictionary.org
www.globoverdedominicano.org
www.wwviews.org
www.padf.org
http://www.cbd.int/cop11/
http://biodiversity.wwviews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/WWViews-on-Biodiversity-080612.pdf
http://biodiversity.wwviews.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/p11_Letter_of_Invitation-World_Wide_Views_on_Biodiversity.pdf