In light of the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Secretariat developed a contingency plan for conducting the 85th and 86th meetings of the Executive Committee (“contingency plan”), for consideration by the Executive Committee. Taking into account the evolving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic around the world, the contingency plan was revised and updated, accordingly. After giving due consideration to the latest updated contingency plan of 20 July 2020, and further to a consultation with the Chair and the Vice-Chair, the Executive Committee agreed:
(a) To hold its 85th and 86th meetings back to back from 8 to 12 March 2021, in Montreal, Canada, noting that:
(i) The 85th meeting would be a short meeting (up to two hours) to adopt a revised provisional agenda, to take note of Secretariat activities and the status of contributions and disbursements of the Multilateral Fund (as at 31 May 2020), and to adopt the draft report of the meeting, which will consist of those items approved under the intersessional approval process established for the 85th meeting;
(ii) The 86th meeting would commence immediately after the closure of the 85th meeting, and would address both the remaining agenda items from the 85th meeting, and all items of the 86th meeting;
(b) To implement an intersessional approval process (16 to 27 November 2020) for the 86th meeting for certain documents, reports and project proposals, through a password-protected forum under the Secretariat’s meeting portal to collect comments and decisions from Executive Committee members, on an exceptional basis due to the COVID 19 pandemic and without setting a precedent;
(c) To organize virtual informal meetings for members of the Sub-group on the Production Sector;
(d) To include in the report of the 86th meeting, relevant information and decisions resulting from the intersessional approval process.
The Secretariat will continue doing its utmost to reduce to a minimum the impact on the operation of the Multilateral Fund in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.