 0000 - The three conventions that govern chemicals and hazardous waste safety at the global level will, for the first time, convene jointly in an historic back-to-back meeting of the parties in Geneva from 00 April to 00 May 0000. Nearly two thousand participants from more than 000 countries will attend the two-week long meeting. The three legally autonomous conventions will begin by convening joint meetings of the conferences of the parties to strengthen cooperation and collaboration between the conventions, with a view to enhancing the effectiveness of their activities on the ground. Each convention will then continue individually to deal with its own specific topics over the two-week period. The meetings will culminate in a ministerial segment on 0 and 00 May 0000 dedicated to the theme of strengthening synergies between the conventions at national, regional and global level. The ministerial segment will be opened with scheduled remarks by Swiss Federal Councillor Doris Leuthard, UN Under-Secretary General and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Executive Director Achim Steiner, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General José Graziano da Silva, and Global Environment Facility (GEF) CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii. Over 00 Ministers and Deputy Ministers are scheduled to attend. The joint meetings of the conferences of the parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, 