Regional Activity Centres (RACs) and institutions which form part of the Regional Activity Network (RAN) provide technical support to Contracting Parties to the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols.
Regional Activity Centres (RACs) and Regional Activity Networks (RANs) enable coordinated regional and technical support to Contracting Parties to meet their obligations to the Cartagena Convention and its Protocols. They assist in the exchange of information, provision of technical expertise and assistance in the development and implementation of programme and project activities.
The operations of these centres and the network are covered in the Guidelines for the Establishment and Operation of Regional Activity Centres and Regional Activity Networks for the Cartagena Convention (Adopted September 2008).
Regional Activity Centres
A Regional Activity Centre or 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 the decentralization of work and 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 Spills Protocol, two for the Pollution or LBS Protocol and one for the Biodiversity or SPAW Protocol.
- Oil Spills Protocol: The Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Information and Training Center for the Wider Caribbean (REMPEITC-Caribe) in Curacao. For more information, visit their website.
- Pollution/LBS Protocol: The Centre of Engineering and Environmental Management of Coasts and Bays in Cuba.
- Pollution/LBS Protocol: The Institute of Marine Affairs in Trinidad and Tobago; and
- SPAW Protocol:The Regional Activity Centre for Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW-RAC) in Guadeloupe.
Regional Activity Network
A Regional Activity Network is 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.
Institutions and individuals within the RAN can 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 in accordance with the MOU between the UNEP-CAR/RCU and the relevant RAC.
