You are here: Home › Secretariat › Regional Activity Centres & Networks

Regional Activity Centres & Networks

Although the Contracting Parties designated UNEP as the Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention, Contracting Parties may use RACs for the coordination and implementation of activities and RANs for the provision of expertise. The RACs will provide the overall supervision, technical guidance and administrative oversight for the implementation of specific and selected activities to fulfill the Convention and its Protocols, assigned by the Contracting Parties for the RAC through UNEP-CAR/RCU. Any RAC may form a RAN with the approval of the Contracting Parties. The RAC should invite relevant institutions to form the RAN.

Regional Activity Centres (RACs) and Regional Activity Networks (RANs) represent an institutional framework of Wider Caribbean regional and technical cooperation for the purpose of coordinating and implementing activities in support of the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols in a systematic manner, facilitating the exchange of information and technical expertise and providing the resources required for implementing project activities.

Establishment and operation of RACs and related RANs have the potential of becoming one of the most effective ways for governments and CEP partner organizations to implement cooperative measures and programmes called for by the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols.

Regional Activity Centres

A RAC is a financially autonomous, international or regional organization, or regional or national institution with regional focus, which has been designated by the Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention to coordinate or carry out specific technical functions and activities in support of the Convention and its Protocols or any future protocols.

The objective of the RAC is to strengthen the delivery of activities in support of the Convention and its Protocols through decentralizing the work and by the addition of human and financial resources from a member country, another UN or international organization, non governmental organization or other donors.

There are currently four (4) RACs: One to support the implementation of the Oil Spill Protocol, two for the LBS Protocol and one for the SPAW Protocol. They are:


Oil Spill Protocol

rempeitc.png

 

  • The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean (REMPEITC-Caribe). For more information, visit their website at www.cep.unep.org/racrempeitc.

LBS Protocol

 

 

cimab.png

 

  • The Centre of Engineering and Environmental Management of Coasts and Bays  
 www.cep.unep.org/cimab

 

 

 

ima.png

   

 

The SPAW Protocol

spawrac.png

 

Regional Activity Networks

 

A RAN is a network of technical institutions and individuals (including e.g. governmental, intergovernmental, non-governmental and academic and scientific) that provide input, peer review, and expertise through the relevant RAC, in a specific scientific or technical area of expertise to increase the level and depth of cooperation and sharing of expertise in the CEP region. Institutions and individuals within the RAN, must be well known in their area of expertise and be willing to provide advice and input to the RAC free of charge, unless arranged otherwise. When under a contractual arrangement with UNEP-CAR/RCU, any institution within a RAN would provide services on an “at cost” basis. RANs will be coordinated by the RAC in their respective technical area inaccordance with the MOU between the UNEP-CAR/RCU and the relevant RAC.

Document Actions