Addis Ababa, July 21 to 24, 2025
The OSS participates in the regional workshop on Knowledge Management for Biodiversity (KM4B), held in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), organized by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in collaboration with the UNDP Regional Service Centre for Africa.
Bringing together more than 36 African countries as well as numerous international organizations, this workshop is part of the global KM4B initiative launched by the CBD in support of the knowledge management strategy adopted at COP 16. It aims to strengthen the capacities of Parties and stakeholders to produce, organize, share, and enhance biodiversity-related data and knowledge to support informed, science-based planning, monitoring, and decision-making.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Astrid Schomaker, Executive Secretary of the CBD, highlights the outcomes of the 20th AMCEN session, placing particular emphasis on strengthening partnerships with African institutions through the signing of agreements with OSS and RCMRD—described as major milestones in achieving the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and supporting African countries.
OSS is represented at this workshop by Ms. Abir Ben Romdhane, Head of the Biodiversity Division, who showcases the organization’s expertise in environmental knowledge management. She notably presents flagship initiatives such as AfrikENCA and the work on ecosystem natural capital accounting, designed as integrated tools for better understanding and using biodiversity data.
As a committed regional actor, OSS considers knowledge management to be a key lever for integrating the objectives of the Global Biodiversity Framework into national policies, through collaborative approaches and structured decision-support tools.
During the group work sessions with partner countries of the TSCC project, OSS acts as a facilitator and contributes to co-building a common vision, collecting good practices, identifying key challenges, and proposing concrete actions to improve biodiversity knowledge management at the regional level.
Through its active involvement, OSS reaffirms its commitment to African countries and multilateral processes and continues its efforts to strengthen regional collaboration around biodiversity governance based on data, knowledge, and shared expertise.