SAICM Stories

The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) together with the Uruguayan Government signed a Host Country Agreement during the last week of November 2018, to set the arrangements for the Third meeting of the Open-ended Working Group. The event will take place in Montevideo on 2-4 April 2019, and will discuss the management of chemical substances and products leading to the fifth International Conference of Chemicals Management (ICCM5) in 2020.

The ceremony was chaired by three Ministers of the Uruguayan Government, the Minister of Health, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Housing, Land Planning and Environment and Jacob Duer, Chief of the Chemicals and Health Branch from UN Environment.

Regional SAICM meetings will be held back-to-back with the regional meetings organized in preparation of the Minamata Convention second Conference of the Parties (COP2). SAICM workshops will be half-day meetings with the other half-day being workshops organized by the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions. Please find the information dates and places here.

Tuesday, July 17, United Nations Plaza, New York - The purpose of this event was to provide a platform for participants to discuss and exchange views and perspectives on chemicals and waste in the context of SDG 12 on sustainable consumption and production patterns, thus ensuring healthy lives and a healthy planet well into the future. More information can be found here. The event was also covered by IISD and the report can be found here.

Chemicals management through the development of Electronic distance learning tool (eDLT)

From the 23rd of February 2018, the Special Programme on Institutional Strengthening is open for applications for 4 months. The deadline for submission of applications is Thursday the 21st of June 2018.

The draft independent evaluation of the Strategic Approach for 2006-2015 is now available. This report, mandated by the ICCM resolution IV/4, aims to provide an analysis to inform intersessional process, enabling ICCM5 to make an informed decision on the future arrangement for the Strategic Approach and the sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020.

In Lesotho, one project funded by the Quick Start Programme Trust Fund, entitled ‘Strengthening the capacity of smallholder farmers, extension staff and agro-dealers on judicious use of herbicides’, helped to increase the knowledge of the safe use of herbicides and other pesticides among these key groups to improve crop outcomes, protect the health of communities and prevent damage to the environment.

The second meeting of the intersessional process will be held in Stockholm, Sweden, from 13 to 15 March 2018, hosted by the Government of Sweden.

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In May of 2017, the Global Environment Facility approved the concept note for the project ‘Global best practices on emerging chemical policy issues of concern under the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM)’, a $9 million full-size project that is scheduled to begin in 2018 until 2020. The project will focus on the SAICM emerging policy issues (EPIs). These EPIs represent particular environmental and health problems and SAICM aims to forge cooperative action to address these issues. The project will focus on: phase out of lead in paint; lifecycle management in chemicals in products; and knowledge management strategies.

On May 30, 2017, the Seventieth World Health Assembly approved the Road map to enhance health sector engagement in the strategic approach to international chemicals management towards the 2020 goal and beyond.  The road map identifies concrete actions where the health sector has either a lead or important supporting role to play in the sound management of chemicals, recognizing the need for multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder cooperation.

All SAICM stakeholders are invited to submit their input and suggestions to the Intersessional Process considering the Strategic Approach and the Sound Management of Chemicals and Waste Beyond 2020.

The Strategic Approach secretariat and the Government of Germany are organising a side event at the Conference of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions on Tuesday 25 April, 6.15 p.m. to 7.45 p.m. / Room 15. The side event will be interactive and provide a platform for participants to discuss and exchange views and perspectives.

Thanks to the funding received from the Quick Start Programme Trust Fund, the Pesticide Action Network (PAN) Africa implemented a number of activities with communities in Mali and Senegal to raise awareness and build capacity of civil society organizations and local communities to reduce risks related to pesticides use in agricultural and health sector, and to monitor and gather data on pesticide use and incidents of exposure to chemicals.

22th February 2017, the second round of applications is now open for 4 months. The deadline for all applications to be submitted to the Special Programme secretariat is Tuesday 20th June 2017 at midnight.

“We are aware of the benefits of the current time we live in. Today we can choose a similar toy from various producers, however, we do not usually take into consideration on the chemical composition and its possible harmful effects. This campaign reminded me to think twice before I buy a new toy for my child, and to choose smartly”, said one mother during the “The fight to know!” campaign".

Cátedra del Olmo set up a women's association, Hacia el Futuro (Towards the future) in the town of la Pascuala, Samaná region, Dominican Republic in 2008. The group started a cooperative to produce cleaning products, cooking them up on a small wood stove to begin with, and marketing them to local businesses including hotels, offices and hospitals. The income gave the women, most of them single parents, enough to feed their families.

A process to prepare recommendations regarding the Strategic Approach and sound management of chemicals and waste beyond 2020 will be launched in Brasilia, Brazil, from 7 to 9 February 2017. Approximately 300 participants representing governments, industry, United Nations agencies and civil society are expected to participate.

When industrial disasters make the headlines, we often sit up and take notice. Could it happen near me? Whether it strikes a gas and petroleum company, a chemicals warehouse or a fertilizer plant, first thoughts go to victims and communities’ understandable anger. When the dust settles, ensuing debate can result in positive change and sometimes increased understanding of the risks, and the costs of inaction to manage chemicals better.