September 2005: Africa Stockpiles Programme - Approval reached by all partners to begin work in Africa.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP) today announced that the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) have become the latest ASP partners to make commitments of US$10 million and US$3 million respectively at the First Meeting of the Conference of the Parties of the Stockholm Convention.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme: Cleaning up Obsolete Pesticides; Contributing to a Healthier Future, by Clifton Curtis and Cynthia Palmer Olsen, WWF, in UNEP's Industry and Environment, Vol. 27 No.2-3, April-September 2004.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP) today announced that the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation will donate US$500,000 to help launch the program in late 2004.
On June 26-30, 2004 in Sirte, Libya, African Ministers of the Environment adopted a variety of decisions, including welcoming the timely and important Africa Stockpiles Programme.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP) today announced that Denmark has offered 15 million kroner (US $2.44 million) to the recently established Multi-Donor Trust Fund, becoming the latest ASP partner to make a commitment to the program.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP) today announced that the European Union has contributed 1 million EUROS to the recently established Multi-Donor Trust Fund, becoming the first ASP partner to deliver on its pledge to help launch the program.
Ethiopia, Mali, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Tunisia and 11 local, regional and international organisations will clean up an estimated 50,000 tons of obsolete stockpiles of pesticides in the first phase of a major drive by the continent. This is one of several high profile initiatives in the spirit of Nepad to unite Africans in finding common solutions to problems. This will be a 12-15 year programme.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP) today announced that it has received a commitment of up to $30 million from CropLife International, a plant science industry trade association, for the program's clean-up of an estimated 50,000 tons of obsolete pesticides and contaminated soil, which have stockpiled throughout Africa.
At its Ninth session held in Kampala in July 2002, the African Ministerial Conference on the Environment officially endorsed the Rabat Declaration on the Environmentally Sound Management of Unwanted Stocks of Hazardous Wastes.
Beijing, China - WWF, the conservation organization, applauds the decision by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to endorse the Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP), which aims to clean-up and safely dispose of over 50,000 tonnes of obsolete pesticide waste stockpiled throughout Africa.
The Africa Stockpiles Programme (ASP) is an exciting example of a multi-stakeholder project that holds great promise for tackling the threat of pesticide contamination throughout the African continent. Virtually every African country has stockpiles of obsolete pesticide stockpiles that have accumulated over the last several decades. These pesticides pose serious threats to the health of both rural and urban populations and contribute to land and water degradation.
No African country is immune from the burden of obsolete pesticides, and action to remove them is so slow that new stocks are accumulating faster than old ones are being destroyed. Mark Davis reports on a new international initiative that could make a dramatic difference.
On the issue of POPs waste, WWF is encouraged by the recent developments involving our organization and several other international stakeholders to establish an Africa Stockpiles Project. That initiative would involve the mobilization of dedicated funds to assist in cleaning up existing obsolete pesticide stockpiles on the African continent, and to help prevent their recurrence in the future. This is one example of the many on-the-ground actions that could give real meaning to the POPs treaty.