Delegation from

Gambia

Represented by
De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde
Position Paper for the United Nations Environment Programme

The topics before the United Nation Environment Programme are: Transformation to a Green Economy: Challenges
for Transportation Worldwide; Management of Harmful Substances and Hazardous Waste and; Facilitating SouthSouth Cooperation for Environmental Capacity Building. Republic of the Gambia is dedicated to collaborative
multilateral approaches to ensuring protection and promotion of sustainable environment.
I.

Management of Harmful Substance and Hazardous Wastes

Chemicals are important part of everyday life. Chemicals produce almost everything we use paper, medicines,
plastics, food, gasoline and electronic equipment are few products that we use every day. Chemicals that are
properly dispose may enhance quality of life but improperly disposal of chemicals can have harmful effects on
human health and environment. With these alarming effects, the United Nations Environment Programme created a
sub-programme that assists countries and regions in managing harmful substances and hazardous wastes. UNEP also
facilitated number of treaties such as the Basel Convention and the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals
Management. The Basel Convention is the most comprehensive global environmental agreement on hazardous
wastes; it aims to protect human health and environment. And the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals
Management (SAICM) is a policy framework that tackles the sound management of chemicals that by 2020
chemicals are produced and used in ways that minimize significant impacts on human health and environment.
The Gambia realizes the harmful effects of chemicals to human health and environment, the Gambia issued the
National Action Plan for Integrated Chemicals Management (NAPICM). The objective of the plan is to strengthen
the national chemical management system with the view of reducing risks to human health and the environment, the
objective ensures the priority of the protection of human health and environment through. (a) The implementation of
the Plan of Action would inform workers, dealers and the public better information; (b) inventory of Persistent
Organic Pollutants (POPs); (c) the Plan of Action would facilitate sub-regional and regional co-operation in the
field of chemicals; and (d) provide more efficient and consistent international reporting scheme. The Plan of Action
will provide the basis of capacity building, technical and financial assistance for stakeholders.
With harmful effects of these chemicals, the Republic of the Gambia, supports and endorses the UNEP subprogramme that assists countries in managing harmful substances and hazardous wastes. The Republic of the
Gambia recommends on more methods of managing harmful substances and hazardous wastes, thus, the Republic of
the Gambia endorses three methods of managing harmful substances and hazardous wastes to the world; (1) combat
the illegal trade of these substances, (2) re-testing of the harmful substances and (3) give treatment and recycle the
hazardous waste in an alternative use. Confirming that these methods were made in cooperation with the
international community, regional groups and national and local government, the Republic of the Gambia urges
every state to take this as a convincing solution to further advance collaborative activities. The Republic of the
Gambia notes the importance of results to the managing harmful substances and hazardous wastes as such it
recommends that the people of the country receive information and training that will use in order for them to tackle
issues of harmful substances and hazardous wastes. People with information and skills to combat these will become
factors, by ensuring that within the country and their own communities managing of these substances and waste will
improve the environment and their lives.