The first workshop in support for the ratification and early implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury was held from 19 to 21 March 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Convened by the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention thanks to the generous support from the Government of China, this workshop gathered representatives from eleven South East Asian countries, IGOs and NGOs active in the sub-region.
The objectives of the workshop were to further enhance participants knowledge of the Convention and the processes for its signature, ratification and early implementation. It also aimed at providing the participants with information on the available sources of support and at creating opportunities for exchange and action at the sub-regional level. By the end of the workshop, each participating country had prepared a draft national roadmap for the ratification and early implementation of the Convention.
In its resolution on arrangements in the interim period, the Conference of Plenipotentiaries held from 10 to 11 October 2013 in Kumamoto, Japan called upon States and regional economic integration organizations to take, as soon as possible, the domestic measures necessary to enable them to meet their obligations upon ratification and thereafter to ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Convention with a view to its entry into force as soon as possible. The Conference further requested the Executive Director of UNEP to facilitate activities at regional and country level to support implementation during the interim period in an effective and efficient manner.
In response to this request, UNEP will be conducting a series of workshops in the interim period until the Convention enters into force to assist countries in their process towards ratification and early implementation of their obligations under the Convention. The next workshops organized in support for the ratification and early implementation of the Minamata Convention will be the first and second Anglophone Africa workshops, scheduled to be held in Nairobi from 23 to 25 April and 28 to 30 April 2014.