Global project updates
Each month, an update on IPEP is provided by Joseph
DiGangi of the Environmental Health Fund. These help participating
organisations keep up-to-date about what’s happening in IPEP
around the world.
Global project updates can also be viewed at www.oztoxics.org/ipepweb
Update for the month of November 2005
IPEP has completed or is currently conducting 242 activities in 57 countries: Albania, Argentina, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Benin, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chile, China, Czech Republic, Colombia, Congo, Egypt, Estonia, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Mauritania, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Turkey, Uganda, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Yemen.
Both South Asia and EECCA held regional meetings during this period. The meetings included IGOs, industry, academics, government officials, and NGO representatives participating in IPEP from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Sri Lanka, and Ukraine. The South Asia workshop was co-financed by IPEP, UNDP GEF Small Grants Programme and UNITAR. The EECCA workshop was co-financed by IPEP, European ECO-Forum, and the Swedish EPA through IPEN Steering Committee member, Chemsec.
New projects this period include: studies of lindane in Bulgaria and Hungary; national training and awareness workshops in Nepal and Sri Lanka; expert team and public awareness-raising activities on POPs in wastes in Albania, Czech Republic, and Estonia; identification of dioxin sources in Armenia; assessment of POPs situation and public awareness-raising in eastern Kyrgyzstan; public hearings at the site of a dioxin catastrophe in Russia; and country situation reports in Azerbaijan, Ghana, and Hungary.
Further developments in IPEP are described below.
WORK IN THE REGIONS
Anglophone Africa
Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development (Tanzania)
Silvani Mnganya
One new PAM on Ghana POPS Situation Report by two NGOs, Environment Youth Action Network (EYAN) and Integrated Community Care (ICC) working in collaboration has been finalised and submitted. On the reports, the Kenya Country Situation Report by PSR Kenya has been finalised. The Hub is still working on the involvement of NGOs from the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) region including Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
The Hub sent comments and evaluation of the UNITAR Guidance and Training Materials in November. Calculations on the IPEP co-financing by NGOs in the region has been going on and is about to be finalised with exception of few and recently submitted projects.
Environmental justice in South Africa had a positive precedent against incineration of hazardous waste in cement kilns. Civil Society organizations and NGOs including Earthlife Africa, GroundWork and Injiya ya Uri who are participating in IPEP managed presented information leading to a decision by the North West Province to deny Holcim Cement permission to burn hazardous waste in their cement kiln in Dudfield, outside Lichtenberg (Ditsobotla Local Municipality District) in the North West Province. The organizations have consistently addressed their concerns on the burning of hazardous waste in cement kilns to the Ministry of Environment and Tourism, calling on the Ministry to develop clear policy guidelines through a consultative process to determine how hazardous waste is treated in South Africa.
Central and Eastern Europe
Arnika (Czech Republic)
Jindrich Petrlik
In November we have focused on regional crosscutting issues: POPs limits in wastes, lindane and PBDEs as new POPs, burning waste in cement kilns and zero waste practices as BEP for avoiding POPs formation. For lindane we have finalized two PAMs: one for Bulgaria and one for Hungary. Concerning zero waste we have started preparation of a PAM with Bulgarian NGO, Romani Baht Foundation. On POPs limits in wastes we will work with the Albanian NGO, EDEN Center, and the Estonian Green Movement in Estonia. We have also finished PAM on Country situation report focused on POPs pesticides with the Hungarian NGO, Clean Air Action Group. Arnika has started to coordinate European activity addressing setting of POPs limits in wastes and there is also new PAM focused on that, which includes also a joint project with the Pakistani NGO SDPI - evaluation of analysis of waste incineration ashes samples from Pakistani medical waste incinerators in comparison with Czech medical waste incinerators.
The Hub team also helped the IPEN delegation at the recent Expert Group Meeting on BAT/BEP with gathering arguments for this meeting. It was also an opportunity to make new contacts within the region and to start negotiations about data for a zero waste regional report from Latvia.
Eastern Europe, Caucasus, and Central Asia Countries
Eco Accord (Russia)
Olga Speranskaya
Eco-Accord is currently working with responsible NGOs on the following projects:
Evaluation of POPs contamination of food products in four regions of Russia" - initiated by Environment, Health, Risk NGP, Russia;
Health Status of Residents, particular Children, of the Impact Zone of Karabash copper enterprise, Cheliabinsk region, and Tobolsk oil and chemical enterprise, Tumen region - initiated by Iskorka NGO, Russia;
Living Earth - initiated by the Women Network in the Urals, Russia;
Identification of Sources of Dioxins, Furans, PCBs and the Campaign against POPs Pollution in Central Asia" - initiated by NGO "For Civil Society", the Kyrgyz Republic, "For Environmentally Clean Fergana", Uzbekistan
Empowering the Armenian public to take actions towards environmentally sound waste management initiated by Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment
Eco-Accord has finalized its work on two final reports for the following projects: The role of intersectoral partnership in development of regional and local PRTR according to the Stockholm convention" initiated by Volgograd-Eco-Press NGO; and the Ukrainian Country Situation Report initiated by MAMA-86-Kharkov. These reports have been submitted to IPEP International Coordinator.
Eco-Accord continues working on two final reports of the following projects:
Reproductive health effects associated with exposure to PCB among natives of the Russian Arctic", initiated by the North-West Public Health Research Center, Russia; and Development of an action plan for reducing the exposure to POPs among Natives of the Russian Arctic, initiated by the North-West Public Health Research Center, Russia.
Eco-Accord is working on the following new PAMs:
-- Azerbaijian Country Situation report initiated by Ruzgar NGO; Analyzing and Assessment of POPs situation in Kochkor region of Kyrgyz Republic initiated by UNISON NGO;
-- Identification of potential sources of dioxins and furans in Armenia and elaboration of recommendations aimed at reducing their negative impact on human health and the environment initiated by Ecotox NGO;
-- Public awareness on POPs and the Stockholm Convention on POPs in Ukraine initiated by MAMA-86-Kharkov;
-- Organizing Public Hearings on Reorganisation and Sanitation of "Khimprom" Company in Ufa city, Republic of Bashkiria, Russia initiated by the Union of Environmentalists of Bashkiria; DDT and DDE in the Russian Arctic and reproductive health effects among natives initiated by the North-West Public Health Research Center; and
-- Empowering the government of Kirgizstan to take action towards the ratification of the Stockholm Convention on POPs initiated by Independent Ecological Expertise and Partnership Initiative.
Eco-Accord in cooperation and with financial support from Chemsec (Sweden), IPEP and the European Eco-Forum held a workshop, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOXIC CHEMICALS: CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT POLICIES OF RUSSIA AND EU COUNTRIES"(Moscow, November, 14-15, 2005). The workshop outcomes are under preparation now and soon will be posted on Eco-Accord website at: http://accord.cis.lead.org
Eco-Accord in cooperation with the European ECO-Forum held a workshop, Perspectives of PRTR Development in the EECCA Region" (Moscow, 16-17 November, 2005). The workshop report in English can be sent upon request.
Francophone Africa
PAN Africa (Senegal)
Henry Diouf
During the month of November, the work performed in the Francophone Africa region in the framework of IPEP project is as follows: We worked on the calculation of IPEP co-financing. We also worked on reviewing draft report of the AGREEM (Mauritania) Project consisting in “Elaborating a strategy for PCBs inventory and disposal on Mauritania”. An approval meeting for the strategy they elaborated is scheduled for 12 December. We also worked on helping AGREEM for the preparation of this approval meeting. We finalized a PAM for the NGO ANCE Togo working on “Describing the Togo situation related to POPs”.
Latin America
RAPAM (Mexico)
Fernando Bejarano
The English version of the Citizen’s Guide to the Stockholm Convention was sent for translation into Arabic through the IPEP Middle East Hub, Dr M. El Banna. A workshop co-financed by IPEN and GAIA and directed to grassroots leaders was held in Mexico City about POPs and Zero waste on 18-20 November 2005 and attended by 50 people with an invited speaker from the Energy Justice Network.
A report by scientist, Pat Costner, Dioxin Emission Factors in the Context of the Stockholm Convention: Importance of Appropriate Emission Factors for Estimating Releases and Prioritizing Sources. Uncontrolled and Minimally Controlled Combustion Processes is under final revision to be distributed in December. In addition, a report on POPs in the Isthmus of Mexico is under final revision to be printed and distributed in December
Middle East
Day Hospital/WIT (Egypt)
Mohamed El Banna
The month included the usual follow up with Arab NGOs engaged in IPEP project. We got 2 PAMs from Syrian NGOs but they are lacking the banking details so they were sent back to be filled. We send the full hot spot report about Helwan in view of the results of the egg sampling. At last we got all information needed to complete Tunisia PAM on the country situation report it was sent. We got an invitation to attend a meeting in the Arab League in Cairo about Dubai meeting and the Arab Net for environment. The Hub also received an invitation from a Syrian NGO for a meeting organized by the Syrian environmental agency for NGOs in Damascus for 3-4 days about POPs and the Stockholm Convention around 25/12/05 I answered for more details suggested that if there is cluster of Syrian NGOs I may consider attending for 2-3 days and discussing with NGOs more participation in IPEP and joining our People`s Congress for a Toxic Free Future. We attended the BAT/BEP meeting in Geneva. It was a good and highly informative meeting.
South Asia
Toxics Link (India)
Upasana Choudhry
The major activity for the hub during the month was the NGOs South Asia Regional Capacity Building Workshop on POPs held from 17-19 November 2005 at New Delhi. IPEP partners from across the region participated in the workshop. In addition, new groups from India were invited based on their interest and prior experience.
The workshop was intended to achieve: Increased level of awareness, understanding, and knowledge among the civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders concerning the effects of POPs on human health and the environment and the measures required to reduce and eliminate them; Expanded interest, capacity and competence in POPs-related issues, leading to their ongoing involvement in Stockholm Convention implementation efforts and other efforts that address persistent toxic substances; Individual, institutional and systemic capacity to formulate and implement projects by some of the participants; Sharing information on experiences and dissemination of good practices that is seen as fundamental to improving country level coordination; Enhanced national/ regional interaction on the POPs issue; and Cross-sectoral synergies and complementarities. The workshop was attended by 60 participants representing the various sectors namely NGOs, Industry, Institutions, UN agencies etc. Unfortunately important agencies such as UNIDO and Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) could not participate. The workshop was primarily organised by the Hub under its MoA with UNITAR. Additional support has been asked for from UNDP-GEF SGP India.
The South Asia Hub also chose this opportunity to foster inter-regional sharing under IPEP. In addition this was the best way of making use of the expertise available within the network. Joe DiGangi, Global Coordinator IPEP and Hana Kuncova from the CEE Regional Hub participated in the event and helped present before the participants, a diverse perspective of tackling the issues. Although Dr. Olga Speranskaya from the EECCA Regional Hub could not be present in person, but she contributed immensely by sharing her views on some of the crucial issues. The hub shall look for more such opportunities that promote inter-regional sharing in the future.
Besides the workshop, some new PAMs have been submitted for approval. These relate to organising National level workshops on POPs. The workshop has also generated interest among few other NGOs who have shown interest in taking up activities. The same are under discussion and shall soon be formalised/ finalised.
The hub shall also now focus on reviewing the three draft reports i.e. Country situation report on Bangladesh; Hotspot report on Bangladesh; and Country situation report on India, that are lying pending. In addition, final reports from Sri Lanka and Nepal are also expected soon.
Southeast Asia
SEAPEN (Philippines)
Romy Quijano
Manny Calonzo
LAKABA has just completed its household survey of two communities in the watershed area near Digos, Davao del Sur. They are now collating the results of the survey. Meantime, PAN Philippines has made arrangements with some other institutions (including NGOs, the academe, the water district office and the Pesticide Analytical
Laboratory) in Davao City, for the health and environment monitoring of communities near the watershed areas in Davao City where the banana plantations operate.
PAN Philippines, together with its partner NGO in Davao del Sur, CAUSE-DS, has conducted a public information campaign on persistent organic pollutants and pesticides in Digos City through posting of streamers along public roads in the city. A dialogue with the Digos City Special Projects office was also held to discuss possible collaborative activities on the protection of watershed areas and health and environment monitoring of affected communities.
PAN Philippines, together with the Justice and Peace Desk of the Catholic Church in South Coatabato, also conducted a medical and fact-finding mission in two areas of South Cotabato where there had been complaints of pesticide poisoning. The complaining communities are adjacent to the banana and pineapple plantations. Some of the patients reported that the plantations are still using Lindane and Endosulfan.
Meanwhile, Gita Pertiwi reported that they already received the first release of funds for their IPEP project and would be reporting soon on the progress of their activities. CEDAC has reported that they had not received any funds yet. The UNEP funds for the Southeast Asia IPEP hub operations have been received by PAN Philippines.
Plans are underway by the NGO Forum on Cambodia to launch consciousness raising activities on POPs targeting university students as well as NGO workers.
The Broga Documentary Team in Malaysia continues to screen the film "Alice Lives Here," which chronicles the citizens' campaign against a planned incinerator for municipal discards.
The Ecological Waste Coalition, Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives and Health Care Without Harm in the Philippines sponsored Dr. Jorge Emmanuel's lecture-forum on "incinerators in disguise" last 24 November 2005, with logistical support from the POPs Project Management Office. Some 75 people from the academe, government and civil society attended the event, which discussed the health and environment impacts of incinerators and related technologies.
A task force of the Ecological Waste Coalition comprising of 9 NGOs is currently implementing a waste prevention and reduction program in the ongoing 23rd Southeast Asian Games. The waste-free 23rd SEAG project seeks to demonstrate alternative approach to managing discards to avoid dumping and burning and the eventual formation and release of unintended POPs.
The Ecological Waste Coalition and the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives participated in the meeting of the interagency consultative committee on the Stockholm Convention on POPs where the country's draft National Implementation Plan was presented.
The Thai POPs Elimination Network (ThaiPEN released a report outlining its most important achievements to date: a) the formation of an active network of NGOs working on POPs, b) establishment of working relationship with the national focal point (the Pollution Control Board), c) recognition by the relevant authorities, and d) the enhancement of public/NGO participation in the NIP process. ThaiPEN has drafted 2 PAMs for implementation in the first 6 months of 2006 for a) dioxin hotspot report involving municipal waste incinerators in Phuket and Samui, and b) an endosulfan hotspot report in Suphanburi province.
WEBSITE
The IPEP website can be reached through the IPEN website at http://www.ipen.org or directly at http://www.oztoxics.org/ipepweb/. A full project index with many reports available is available on the IPEP website and located here:
http://www.oztoxics.org/ipepweb/projects/project%20index_5_1.html
FUNDING
During this period Hubs continued calculating substantial in-kind co-finance contributions to IPEP after 19 months of operation. The combined total of the NGO cash and in-kind co-financing in four IPEP regions now totals $467,388. Calculations of substantial in-kind co-finance contributions to IPEP are ongoing.
Download entire update
(gl_nov_2005.doc, MS Word Document, 122 KB)
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