The 8th Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP8) to the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) will take place on 26-30 September 2022 in Budapest, Hungary, at the invitation of the Hungarian Government.

The official slogan of MOP8 – Strengthening Flyway Conservation in a Changing World – captures the need for AEWA Parties to use this MOP and make collective decisions to ensure stronger resources for the implementation and the delivery of the Agreement, through particularly challenging times with the pressing global issues related to climate change, biodiversity loss and shifting priorities in particular due to the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic. Strengthening flyway conservation can only materialize with sustainable funding, compliance, and increased implementation.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat would like to bring the attention of all MOP8 participants to a change of the meeting venue, as well as an adjusted schedule for the meeting. (Learn more from the Notification to Parties 2022/006)

The AEWA MOP8 will now be held at a new venue, closer to the city centre, the Corinthia Hotel instead of the originally announced venue (Hungexpo Convention Center). However, as the venue is not available on 26 September, the AEWA MOP8 schedule and planning has to be reshaped. The AEWA MOP8 itself will take place from 27 to 30 September 2022, for shortened duration of four days instead of five days as initially planned. The AEWA MOP8 schedule and planning will be modified as described below:

• On Monday, 26 September 2022 (afternoon) it is planned to hold first regional coordination meetings (EU and Africa); a venue for the coordination meetings still needs to be identified.
• On Day 1 of MOP8 (27 September 2022), the opening ceremony and plenary sessions will be shorter than originally scheduled, and the two working groups (technical & administration and finance), will start in the afternoon already, which is earlier than initially planned.
• Day 2 of MOP8 (28 September 2022) will be fully dedicated to the two working groups.
• On Day 3 of MOP8 (29 September 2022) all delegates will be invited to attend a full day of side-events organized by partners while the Secretariat will prepare the revised meeting documents and draft resolutions for adoption, based on the discussions and deliberations of the MOP on Days 1 and 2.
• On Day 4 of MOP8, 30 September 2022, the MOP Plenary will be reconvened for final discussions and adoption of resolutions.

Under this new schedule, the plenary sessions will be shortened, and thus presentations will need to be concise.

Delegates who have already booked flights and accommodation for the meeting will not need to change their flights but are strongly advised to reconsider their booked accommodation as it may be far from the new venue (Corinthia Hotel). The Expo Hotel will no longer be the most convenient hotel option as it is located some 30 minutes from the new meeting venue.

Please visit this webpage regularly for the revised detailed agenda and meeting schedule.

The UNEP/AEWA Secretariat would like to thank the host government and its dedicated team for its hard work and all MOP8 participants for their understanding and flexibility.