A Regional Workshop on the Development of an Eastern Africa Coastal and Marine Environment Clearing House Mechanism (CHM) took place from 9th to 11th May 2006 at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The meeting was attended by 25 representatives from key national institutions as well as representatives of international and regional partner organizations and programmes such as Western Indian Ocean Marine Sciences Association (WIOMSA), New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO (IOC-UNESCO), Ocean Data and Information Network of Africa (ODINAFRICA), South Africa Data Centre for Oceanography (SADCO), World Wildlife Fund - Eastern Africa Marine Eco-Region (WWF-EAME), Agulhas and Somali Current Large Marine Ecosystem Project (ASCLME), South Western Indian Ocean Fisheries Project (SWIOFP) and African Coelacanth Ecosystem Programme (ACEP). The goal of the workshop was to seek opportunities for collaboration and agree on strategies for development of a consolidated, regionally coordinated and integrated CHM for the exchange of data and information on the coastal and marine environment, for the Nairobi Convention, through establishment of synergies with other regional initiatives.

The representatives of participating countries appreciated the initiative to develop the regional CHM as a facility for exchange and sharing of information in the Western Indian Ocean Region and agreed to fully support this initiative. It was agreed that the CHM would be built upon the existing national institutional frameworks and mechanisms and efficiency should be sought through close collaboration with the IOC-UNESCO ODINAFRICA framework. The participants also deliberated on the data sharing policy for the CHM and the Terms of Reference for the Lead National Institutions that will coordinate activities at national level. The meeting also and came up with a number of objective criteria for their selection. Finally, the meeting recommended the establishment of a Technical Working Group composed of ODINAFRICA, ACEP, DEWA representatives and other interested parties, to review and recommend the most appropriate metadata format to be adopted by the CHM.

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