TAI Updates

August 2001

INDICATOR FRAMEWORK
We have completed our email discussion of the draft indicator framework and received excellent comments and suggestions from the discussion group. We intend to summarize and make available these comments. Once the first round of pilot-tests are complete (end of October/early November) we will make appropriate revisions for the next iteration of the framework.

OUTREACH
During the months of May and June, Core Team members engaged in efforts to raise awareness of the Access Initiative around the world. They attended conferences, meetings, and workshops in an effort to expand the Initiative's constituency and garner political and financial support.

UNED Forum
On April 28th WRI - Access Initiative Team member Frances Seymour attended a meeting of the Advisory Board of the UNED Forum, a coalition of groups working to facilitate participation in the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Frances made a brief presentation that introduced the members of the Board to the Access Initiative.

UNEP Meetings
The Civil Society Consultations on International Environmental Governance were held on May 22-23, 2001 at UNEP headquarters in Nairobi. Peter Veit, a WRI - Access Initiative Team member, attended the meetings and contributed to the UNEP-Civil Society dialogue.

Central and Eastern Europe Subregional PrepCom (June 27-28)
Judy Amorosa of EMLA attended the CEE Subregional PrepCom in Bucharest. She reports that the CEE Region representatives expressed strong support for the principles of public access to information as expressed by the Aarhus Convention. EMLA is now preparing comments on the NGO and Ministerial declarations prepared for the UNECE PrepCom in September.

Subregional PrepCom in Latin America
Participa participated in the Subregional PrepCom in Chile and disseminated information about the Access Initiative. Maria Eugenia Brockmann and Andrea Sanhueza met with staff from the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the regional UNEP office to identify opportunities to participate and influence the preparatory process for the WSSD. Together with WRI's Crescencia Maurer they have prepared information about the Access Initiative for the UNEP newsletter for Latin America. UNEP has posted this information on their website, at www.rolac.unep.mx/cronica/ing/index.htm#07-Acceso