English - UNITAR

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. The Regional Workshop Promoting The Coordinated Implementation Of The Basel,
Rotterdam And Stockholm Conventions In The Middle East And Northern Africa was held
in Damascus, Syria on 19-21 July 2004.
2. The Workshop was organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP),
with support from the Geneva Environment Network, financed fully by the Swiss Agency
for the Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL), the Syrian Ministry of Local
Administration and the Environment (MOLAE) and the Public Commission on
Environmental Affairs (PCEA) of Syria. The Workshop convened under the Patronage of
His Excellency Eng. Helal Al-Attrash, Minister of MOLAE.
3. The Workshop addressed the objectives of the three conventions (Basel, Rotterdam and
Stockholm, MEAs) , the obligations that they impose on Parties, and how they are meant to
work at the national level. Also, it discussed how can the three conventions be mutually
supportive and complementary and how together provide a coherent framework for
managing the life cycle of chemicals.
4. 70 participants representing most countries of the region (MENA), including governmental
and non-governmental agencies and regional centres.
5. The Workshop, throughout its working groups and plenary sessions, evaluated the practical
coordinated implementation of MEAs in the region, and the countries’ experiences in this
regard.
6. At the end of the Workshop, the participants issued a set of Recommendations for the
continuing promotion of MEAs clustering and coordinated implementation, indicating
conditions, needs and priorities in the region.
II. Objectives
7. The main objectives of this Regional Workshop were to develop an understanding of the
pertinent MEAS and their coordinated implementation; and to discuss and exchange
experiences on how to:
• Promote an integrated approach to implementing the three conventions at the national
and regional levels.
• Promote cooperation and coordination amongst convention focal points and identify
opportunities for developing pilot projects for the environmentally sound
management of hazardous chemicals and wastes.
• Identify options for supporting and enhancing cooperation and joint implementation
of the three conventions.
2