The Secretariate of the United Nations Convention of the Biological Diversity (CBD) in collaboration with AUDA-NEPAD and other partners conducted a workshop on the risk assessment of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) for Francophone African stakeholders, from 19 to 22 September 2022 in Dakar, Senegal.

In his opening remarks, Dr Lamine Kane, Focal Point of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety, welcomed participants on behalf of the Minister in charge of environment in Senegal. He thanked the CBD and its partners for their constant capacity building efforts for national stakeholders in Africa.

Dr Jeremy T. Ouedraogo, Head of AUDA-NEPAD ABNE programme also commended the CBD Secretariate and its partners for this capacity building initiative for Francophone Africa. “Risk assessment is relevant only when countries are committed to implementing the technologies that require such assessment”, he said. He therefore encouraged participants to actively interact and get the most out of the meeting and more important make the necessary recommendations to their authorities back home to make sure the knowledge gained in this training generate tangible results.

Dr Elisabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary of the CBD, also delivered a video message to participants. She highlighted that risk assessment is central in the decision-making process in particular in rapidly changing areas like modern biotechnologies. “Risk assessment provides science-based information for decision-making… Assessing risks timely is critical to safely harnessing evolving technologies”, she added.

During these 4 days, participants were taken through the legal framework of risk assessment of LMOs, the principles and methodology of risk assessment as well as practical case studies. At the end of the workshop participants acknowledged the relevance of the meeting which provided them with the necessary information on LMOs regulation and assessment. They however recommended that further trainings be organized to strengthen the initial knowledge gained in this workshop.