Latin American and Caribbean regional meeting on SAICM

Panama City, 14 -16 February 2008

Supporting SAICM implementation:Pilot projects, guidance materials, and related activities

Chemicals and Waste Management Programme, UNITAR

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Overview of presentation

UNITAR overview

Strengthening the foundation for chemicals management: enabling activities

Key methodologies/concepts

Selected projects

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UNITAR: Assisting countries with SAICM enabling activities

UNITAR provides a variety of services to assist with capacity development related to SAICM enabling activities

Experience gained in over 10 years of working with countries to develop integrated chemicals management approaches/ programmes

Coordination with/formal participation of IOMC Participating Organizations and observers; SBC, OPCW, and the SAICM Secretariat

A series of guidance and training materials used in over 100 countries currently being updated, and new materials developed in light of SAICM outcomes

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Strengthening the foundations of chemicals management

The broad scope and multitude of work areas in SAICM, numerous international agreements on chemicals/wastes, and the almost countless individual commitments each country makes constitutes an enormous challenge

Developing the necessary infrastructure and ensuring needed processes are in place in the country provides an “enabling environment” or “enabling conditions”

IOMC Guide for resource, guidance and training materials now available

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SAICM enabling activities

Enabling activities can include, inter alia:

National Profile development/updating

National capacity assessments and priority setting

Multi-stakeholder committee/platform development

Information exchange mechanisms

Public participation activities

National SAICM implementation plan development, with full stakeholder participation

Individual action plans on substantive topics of chemicals management – Partnerships between stakeholders are encouraged

Development of Integrated National Programmes

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SAICM enabling activities

“Implementation of the Strategic Approach could begin with an enabling phase to build necessary capacity, as appropriate, to develop, with relevant stakeholder participation, a national Strategic Approach implementation plan...” (OPS)

“the objective of the Quick Start Programme is to support initial enabling capacity-building and implementation activities…” (Resolution I/4 of the ICCM)

www.unitar.org/cwm/tw

Thematic workshop

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Thematic workshop outcomes

Developed understanding of challenges and opportunities for SAICM implementation at the national level

Explored options for developing sound governance structures for SAICM implementation

Discussed challenges and opportunities for involving civil society and private sector in national SAICM implementation

Developed understanding on elements of partnerships for sound chemicals management

Provided input to national SAICM pilot projects

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National Chemicals Management Profiles

www.unitar.org/cwm/np

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National Chemicals Management Profiles

Overview of national legal, institutional, administrative, and technical infrastructure for national chemicals management

National Profile development process is a key component

Assists in identification of infrastructure-related strengths, weaknesses, and gaps, as well as priority needs for national action and external technical assistance

Baseline against which progress may be judged in meeting specific national or international targets (e.g. SAICM)

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SAICM and National Chemicals Management Profiles

QSP Strategic Priority:

“development or updating of national chemical profile…”

ICCM Global Plan of Action emphasizes efforts such as:

“assessment of national chemicals management to identify gaps and prioritize actions” (activity 207)

identifying “priority gaps in chemicals management regimes and practices” (activity 121)

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National Chemicals Management Profiles

Over 100 countries have prepared National Profile or are in process of preparing

Used as starting point for Stockholm Convention NIPs in over 50 countries

Guidance currently being updated in light of SAICM outcomes

National Profile Homepage

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National Chemicals Management Profiles

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National SAICM Capacity Assessment

www.unitar.org/cwm/saicm

Purpose of a National SAICM Capacity Assessment

Catalyzes collaboration between government and stakeholders towards understanding and identifying priority needs

Builds on National Profile and other sources (e.g. NIP)

Facilitates identifying priority actions for SAICM implementation

Highlights possible areas for partnership projects between stakeholders

Sets the stage for preparation of a SAICM Implementation Plan which may be linked to an integrated national programme for sound chemicals management

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Government

MajorStakeholder

Group(e.g. Environmental

NGOs)

Major Stakeholder

Group(e.g. Business and Industry)

National SAICMCapacity Assessment

• Governance Framework

• Chemicals Management Issues and Priorities

Urgency & Importance of Taking Action

Concerned Actors

Proposed approach for development of a National SAICM Capacity Assessment

Possible Action

Opportunities for Partnership Projects

Capacity Strengths and Gaps

Proposed areas for the governance assessment

Integrating chemicals management into national development priorities

Sound institutional and programmatic national framework

Effective project planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation

Legislation and enforcement

Participation of the private sector and civil society in chemicals management

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Sample worksheet for the governance assessment

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A.2 A Sound Institutional and Programmatic National Framework

Category

(and related Global Plan of Action

activities)

Level of existing

capacities:High /

Medium / Low

Summary of strengths &

gaps

Possible action

Priority for taking

action:High /

Medium / Low

2.1 Establishing an Inter-ministerial Coordination Mechanism

(56, 166, 195, 197, 252)

Medium

Coordinating mechanism in place but not formalised Ministries of health and finance not participating

Develop a ministerial decree Letter from existing chair to Ministries of Health and Finance

High

Proposed areas for the chemicals management assessment

Information generation and dissemination

Risk Reduction

Education and awareness raising

Accident prevention and control

Analytical and laboratory capacity

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Proposed steps for the chemicals management assessment

Step 1: (screening) Identifying important and urgent chemicals management issues

Step 2: Conducting in-depth capacity assessment for important and urgent chemicals management issues Capacity gaps, possible action, concerned actors, urgency and

importance

Step 3: Identifying: possible national priorities stakeholder group actions identifying opportunities for partnership projects

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Sample worksheet for the chemicals management assessment

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B.1 Information generation and dissemination

Chemicals Management Issue Area

Capacity Gaps Possible Action Concerned Actors Urgency & importance

of taking action:

Hazard Identification, Classification and Labeling (GHS)

(related GPA activities: 11, 22, 91, 92, 94, 95, 96, 97, 99, 100, 101, 107, 108, 168, 249, 250)

• Lack of legislation • Development of new regulations

• Ministry of Industry• Ministry of Health• Ministry of Labour• Ministry of Transport• Ministry of Agriculture

High

• Lack of labelling in the workplace

• Development of industry labelling standard based on GHS;• Enforcement of relevant legislation

• Business and Industry• Ministry of Labour

High

• Lack of worker and consumer awareness

• Development of training and awareness raising materials

• Business and Industry;• Labour Unions;• Consumer Organizations

High

Proposed structure of the National SAICM Capacity Assessment

1. Executive Summary

2. Summary Assessment: National Governance Structure

3. Summary Assessment: Chemicals Management Issues and Priorities

4. Opportunities for Partnership Projects

5. Annexes: Completed worksheets

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Government

MajorStakeholder

Group(e.g. Environmental

NGOs)

Major Stakeholder

Group(e.g. Business and Industry)

StakeholderAction

National SAICMCapacity Assessment

• Assessment of Governance Framework

• Assessment of Chemicals Management

Issues and Priorities

StakeholderAction

NationalChemicals Management

Programme/SAICM Implementation

Framework

•Governance Framework

•Chemicals Management Action Plans and

Partnership Projects

GovernmentAction

Development of a SAICM Capacity Assessment and National SAICM Implementation Framework

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UNITAR: Assisting countries with integrated national programmes/enabling activities (QSP)

“National SAICM Pilot Projects” to develop an Integrated National Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste

3 developing countries and 1 country in economic transition: Belarus, Panama, Pakistan, and Tanzania

Project countries selected by UNITAR/IOMC Project Task Force (June 2006)

Country projects take place over a period of 3 years (2006-2009)

Funded by Government of Switzerland (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN)) as a contribution to the QSP

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UNITAR: Assisting countries with integrated national programmes/enabling activities (QSP)

Previous phases of the Integrated National Programme include: 1997-1999: Argentina, Ghana, Indonesia, Slovenia 2000- 2002: Ecuador, Senegal, Sri Lanka 2004-2005: Armenia, Chad, Jamaica, Jordan

The experience of the pilot countries developing national programmes made a valuable contribution to the process to develop SAICM

The projects built upon experience gained and lessons learned through previous phases/projects on integrated chemicals management

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National SAICM Pilot Projects

Develop an Integrated National Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste

Focus on governance, stakeholder participation, and partnerships to support national SAICM implementation

Addresses: priority setting, concrete action (including partnership projects), and mainstreaming

National SAICM Pilot Projects: Key milestones

NationalProfile

and other relevant material

SAICM Capacity Assessment

National Forumon Governance

and Priority Setting

Agreed Governance

Structure

Inter-ministerial Coordination

Stakeholder Involvement

Partnership Project 1

Partnership Project 2

National Review

Workshop

Information Exchange

Mechanism and Website

National Development Planning Process

(ongoing feedback and integration of chemicals and waste management)

……

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SUBSTANTIVE AREAS OF

INTEGRATED CHEMICALS

MANAGEMENT

COORDINATED LEGISLATION & ENFORCEMENT

INTEGRATED EMERGENCY RESPONSE / POISON CONTROL

INTEGRATED STRENGTHENING OF ANALYTICAL CAPACITIES

… …

INTEGRATED IMPORT CONTROL

CLASSIFICATION AND LABELLING (GHS)

NATIONAL INFORMATION

EXCHANGE MECHANISM

NATIONAL POLICY DEVELOPMENT

NATIONAL PROFILE

PREPARATION

AWARENESS RAISING &

COMMMUNICATION

COORDINATED FINANCIAL RESOURCE

MOBILISATION

INTEGRATED CAPACITY

DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY

STRATEGIC PLANNING AND

MONITORING

STRATEGIC EVALUATION

NATIONAL COORDINATING PLATFORM

PUBLIC INTEREST GROUPS

INDUSTRY RESEARCH & ACADEMIA

… …

MINISTRY OFENVIRONMEN

T

MINISTRY OFLABOUR

MINISTRY OFHEALTH

… …

MINISTRY OFAGRICULTURE

National and International Priorities

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UNITAR: Assisting countries with integrated national programmes/enabling activities (QSP TF)

UNITAR is to date assisting 37 projects on SAICM enabling activities

QSP Round I: Armenia, Burkina Faso, Chile, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Haiti, Georgia, Madagascar, Mongolia, Rwanda, São Tomé & Principe, Serbia, and Syria

QSP Round II: Barbados, Bolivia, Burundi, Cambodia, Chad, Comoros, Eritrea, Kiribati, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lesotho, Malawi, Nepal, Nicaragua, Palestine

QSP Round III: Mali, Liberia, Kenya, Yemen

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Core components of UNITAR-assisted QSP TF projects

NationalProfile

Development/Updating

SAICM Capacity Assessment

National Priority Setting Workshop

GovernanceAssessment

GovernancePriorities

Chemicals ManagementPriority Setting

ChemicalsManagementAssessment

Next steps towards developing and integrated national programme and mainstreaming sound management of chemicals in national strategies…

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Other components of some UNITAR-assisted QSP TF projects

Developing a National Profile

Holding a National SAICM Forum and developing a national policy on SAICM implementation

Developing a national chemicals management database

Undertaking awareness raising

Developing and strengthening national legislation and policies for the sound management of chemicals

Strengthen inter-agency and inter-ministerial cooperation

Developing action plans and partnership projects

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Other regional activities

Pilot Project on “Strengthening Inventory Development and Risk Management-Decision Making for Mercury: A Contribution to the Global Mercury Partnership (2007-2009)” – Panama, Ecuador, Chile (funded by US EPA)

“Strengthening Regional and National Capacities for Sound Chemicals Management and SAICM Implementation in Central America (2007-2009)”, in partnership with Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) (funded by US EPA): (1) development of a regional approach for SAICM

implementation(2) design of a regional PRTR system (3) strengthening capacities for mercury inventory development

GHS enabling activities in Uruguay, with support of Switzerland

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Conclusions

Strong national foundation is essential for effective SAICM implementation

Work is ongoing with support through broader QSP and also QSPTF

Support to date of Government of Switzerland, US EPA, and QSPTF highly appreciated

UNITAR stands ready to assist additional countries with SAICM enabling activities and implementation of “substantive” areas

Demand FAR exceeds supply – over 50 formal requests for assistance on record

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For more information

www.unitar.org/cwmcwm@unitar.org