PERSGA Regional Coordinator of Biodiversity & MPAs Program (Component 1 Coordinator of the SEM Project) participated in the 2nd steering committee of the Global Coral Reef Partnership which was held in the 31st October 2016 at Paris, France prior to the 31st ICRI GM. In 2014, UNEP and Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans (RSCAP) initiated a Global Coral Reef Partnership to support countries deliver internationally agreed coral reef commitments by strengthening ecosystem-based management of coral reefs. UNEP serves as Secretariat of the partnership, in line with the mandate received in the Coral Reef Partnership Workshop, 3 October 2013 as part of the Global Conference on Land-Ocean Connections. The First Partnership Steering Committee Meeting was held in Pattaya, Thailand, November 2015, back-to-back with the 30th ICRI General Meeting.

The 2nd Steering Committee meeting was primarily focused on the UNEA-2 resolution on sustainable coral reefs management, the Regional Seas Strategic Directions 2017-2020 and SDGs adopted at the 17th Global Meeting of the Regional Seas Conventions and Action Plans in Istanbul, Turkey, 20-22 October 2015; and the Paris Agreement and discussed and further defined how the partnership will implement relevant aspects of these. A workplan for 2017was also discussed and agreed. Also the partnership discussed the application of wastewater in community monitoring & training.  PERSGA delegate presenting PERSGA has achieved two training manuals from PERSGA-UNEP wastewater project entitled: “the Regional Guidelines on Wastewater Management in Coastal Cities of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden” and “Manual on Indicators of Impacts of Wastewater Discharge on Coral Reef”.  The meeting attended by representatives of RSCAP (e.g. PERSGA) as well as technical partners, UNEP collaborating centres, GCRMN and the ICRI Secretariat