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Description Within the framework of the Global Plan of Action (GPA) for the Conservation and Sustainable Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) which was formally adopted by 150 countries, including Lebanon, during the International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources held in Leipzig in 1996, FAO has developed a proposal for establishing National Information Sharing Mechanism in order to strengthen national PGRFA programmes and to improve the conservation and sustainable utilization of PGRFA through enhancing world-wide information management and exchange. The Mechanism is based on the participation of stakeholders at national level and seeks to promote information exchange and strengthen stakeholder cooperation, thereby contributing to enhance the capacity of the National Programme for Conservation and Utilisation of Plant Germplasm and Agro-biodiversity. Through a computer application, the Mechanism facilitates the management of the information addressed by a list of internationally agreed indicators for monitoring in the country the implementation of all 20 priority areas of the GPA.
The Lebanese Agricultural Research Institute (LARI), acted as the coordinating organization for the establishment of the Mechanism in the country, which counted on the participation of more than 30 experts from 14 National Stakeholders. An informal Steering Committee of key stakeholders was formed to help guide the GPA monitoring process and to prepare the Country Report. The implementation of the mechanism was preceded by a short preparatory phase which consisted in reviewing all materials, getting necessary permissions to undertake a collaborative information sharing process including both public and private sectors, followed by a meeting with the representative of FAO to clarify the terms of agreement and to discuss and finalize a Work Plan for the implementation phase. Activities towards the establishment of the Mechanism included an initial stakeholders' workshop held on 30 May 2006, at LARI, to gain the understanding and commitment of stakeholders in this process and to initiate them to the use of the computer application for GPA monitoring, and a second stakeholders' workshop held on 11 September 2006 at LARI, to assist stakeholders for gathering and recording information on the Reporting Format using the software. Finally a reporting phase was carried out based on the analysis of the information provided by the participating stakeholders and recorded under the Mechanism's database, resulting in the preparation, by the Steering Committee, of a strategic assessment of the state of PGRFA in Lebanon.
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