UNITAR and GTZ have opened a three-day workshop in Addis Ababa for focal points and negotiators from English-speaking African countries involved in the Ad Hoc Open Ended Working Group on Access and Benefit-sharing (ABSWG). The workshop is associated with the GTZ-led ABS Capacity Development Initiative for Africa, and aims to provide focal points and negotiators with an opportunity to analyze the outcomes of the recent ABS expert meetings on compliance and concepts, terms, working definitions and sectoral approaches. In addition to providing training on effective negotiation techniques, the workshop will also enable participants to analyze recent submissions made by Parties for the seventh meeting of the Working Group (ABSWG7), scheduled to take place in Paris in early April, and discuss options for negotiation and convergence of views. Last week, UNITAR, GTZ and the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie held a workshop in Paris for focal points from French speaking African countries. The UNITAR inputs to the GTZ-led Initiative are part of a project to support effective ABS negotiations, and are funded by the Swiss government.