The Chemicals and Waste platform has been developed by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), in cooperation with the Secretariat of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, and the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention. The project has received a financial contribution from the Government of Switzerland.
The intention of the platform is to assist countries in the ratification and implementation of the Basel, Rotterdam, Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, focusing on opportunities for collaborative and cooperative activities among the conventions.
UNITAR’s Chemicals and Waste Management Programme provides support to governments and stakeholders to strengthen their institutional, technical, and legal infrastructure and capacities for sound management of chemicals. Project activities serve to implement international agreements such as the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, the Minamata Convention, and the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS).
Consistent with its collaborative approach, UNITAR is a member of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC) - a collaborative agreement between FAO, ILO, UNDP, UN Environment, UNIDO, UNITAR, WHO, the World Bank and the OECD. Likewise, UNITAR also works closely with recipient and donor countries in order to maximize the impact of its interventions.
These interventions aim to protect human health and the environment, contributing to the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. UNITAR’s capacity building activities support a country-driven and integrated approach, contributing to the achievement of the 2020 goal to achieve the sound management of chemicals, as adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in 2002.
UNITAR benefits from the services available from a selection of senior advisors to provide international expertise to countries and organisations, to advance their approaches to management of chemicals, supported by a team of project officers based within UNITAR’s offices.