Uganda has been elected VICE PRESIDENT of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species of wild animals (CMS).
As Vice President, Dr Barirega Akankwasah, Ag Commissioner Wildlife Conservation of the Ugandan delegation will deputise Prakash Javadekar, the Union Environment minister of India.
Africa Tembelea understands that Prakash will also chair the Committee which clears all business for consideration by the plenary of the Conference.
The indian minister was handed over the Presidency of the COP by the Philippines, which was presiding over the convention from 2017 till now. India, deputized by Uganda will now preside over CMS till 2023.
With CMS COP 13, India is now presiding over two UN conventions as last year in September, India was also handed over the Presidency of UN Convention to Combat Desertification at COP 14 for two years.
CMS COP 13 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday after two days of pre-COP meetings and is likely to go on till February 22, when the Gandhinagar Declaration is expected to be adopted and released.
– About CMS –
CMS is an international agreement between governments that provides a global platform for the conservation and sustainable use of migratory animals and their habitats.
It brings together the States through which migratory animals pass, the Range States, and lays the legal foundation for internationally coordinated conservation measures throughout a migratory range.
CMS also known as the Bonn convention, was adopted in 1979 and entered into force on 1 November 1983. It recognizes that states must be the protectors of migratory species that live within or pass through their national jurisdictions and aims to conserve terrestrial, marine, and avian migratory species throughout their ranges.
CMS currently has 124 Parties and Uganda became a contracting Party 1st August 2000.
