Background on InterimSteering Committee Development Members of Interim Steering Committee	Background on ISC Development Near the end of the Western Hemisphere Migratory Species Conference, country representatives considered whether it would be worthwhile to continue the momentum of the Conference, and if so, how such a continuance might be structured. All country representatives agreed that something should be done to provide continuity to the effort, and some type of “forum” involving both country representatives and other stakeholders would be the logical means for doing so. A group of volunteer country representatives and stakeholder participants agreed to stay into the evening and synthesize the breakout session visions for the future of the Western Hemisphere Migratory Bird Conference. This volunteer group proposed that an on-going forum be created for continuing the work begun at the Conference, and that the forum should meet as a full body within 2 years, if not sooner, at which time, a permanent body should be proposed. The group further proposed that an Interim Steering Committee be created, and that the Committee could be responsible for keeping the effort alive, communicating with, and updating, parties on a regular basis, and initiating and monitoring implementation of the action plan with the initial focus on migratory birds. Additionally, the Interim Steering Committee could be charged with producing a baseline report on the status of the identified prioritized needs and the tools available to address them. The Interim Steering Committee would also be responsible for raising funds for future meetings, making contacts with nations and key groups not represented at the current meeting, and developing a formula for the future of this initiative (i.e. Proposing a mechanism for establishment of a permanent forum, steering body and follow-up communications). Lastly the Interim Steering Committee could be asked to prepare a progress report for the Conference participants, as well as for the Summit of the Americas and other interested bodies. The volunteer group proposed that the Interim Steering Committee be composed of a country representative from each of the following regions: North America, northern South America; southern South America, the Caribbean, and Central America. Additionally, the group recommended that four non-government organizations plus relevant international conventions be represented on the Committee. The following morning, after some minor adjustments to the proposed plan, the entire group of country representatives accepted the plan developed by the volunteer group. Country representatives then broke into regional groups in order to elect an Interim Steering Committee representative from each major region of the hemisphere. Following announcement of the regional representatives to the Interim Steering Committee, the country representatives elected Herb Raffaele of the USA, the Interim Steering Committee Chair. All country representatives appointed to serve on the Interim Steering Committee were selected to do so as individuals – not as country representatives. Therefore, if an individual resigns from the Interim Steering Committee, the vacancy will not default to an alternative representative from that same country. Instead, the country representatives from that region will appoint a new individual from the region to fill the vacancy on the Committee. Simultaneous to these discussions, the non-government organization and stakeholder participants chose four representatives from distinct interests within their own group for participation in the Interim Steering Committee. Further, representatives from the Convention on Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (Bonn Convention) and the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) were invited to join the Interim Steering Committee. Additionally, any other interested convention was given an open-ended invitation to join the Interim Steering Committee. The representative from the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles subsequently requested to do so, and was made part of the Committee.
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