Meeting
of the Parties
The
Meeting of the Parties is the main governing body
of the Convention. It comprises all Parties
to the Convention. It its meetings, other Signatories
and other States as well as intergovernmental and
non-governmental organizations participates as observers.
The mandate of the Meeting of the Parties is to
keep under continuous review the implementation
of the Convention and take the necessary measures
required to achieve the purposes of the Convention.
A Working
Group of the Parties has been established to
oversee the implementation of the work programme
for the Convention between meetings of the Parties.
It has the same composition as the Meeting of the
Parties itself but meets more regularly.
The
Meeting of the Parties held its first
meeting on 21-23 October 2002 in Lucca, Italy
and its second meeting on
25-27 May 2005 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.
An
extraordinary meeting of the
Parties took place in Kiev, Ukraine on 21 May
2003.
The third meeting of the Parties will be held in Riga, Latvia, from 11 to 13 June 2008.
The
rules of procedure of the Meeting of the Parties
are available in English,
French and Russian.