The projects “Integrated SC toolkit to improve the transmission of information under Articles 07 and 15” and "Continuing Regional Support for POPs Global Monitoring Plan under the Stockholm Convention”, funded by Global Environment Funding (GEF) and executed by Basel and Stockholm Convention Regional Centre in Asia and the Pacific (BCRC/SCRC China), were successfully completed in August 2023 after one and a half year dedicated efforts.

The projects aimed at increasing the capacity of the Parties served by BCRC-SCRC China to transmit, access and use the data contained in National Implementation Plans (NIP, Article 7) and National Reports (Article 15), strengthening regional coordination and collaboration on POPs monitoring and increasing the capacity for sustainable monitoring of POPs at national level in the Asia Pacific Region, and furthermore increasing the capacity of Parties for conducting POPs inventories and monitoring.

A series of activities have been conducted to achieve aforementioned goals. To promote the information exchange and capacity building on the aspects of gap analysis, setting up national mechanisms for NIP development and reporting as well as for priority setting, BCRC China organized online workshop with the participants from different institutions and the Parties of Asia and the Pacific during May 2022. Following the workshop, BCRC China provided the Parties with technic support to initiate national gap analysis and other requirements regarding the NIP development/update.

As part of the project, UNEP provided the preliminary integrated electronic toolkit to facility the standardization of NIP submission. BCRC China organized the regional forum on POPs in May 2023, where delegates from Cambodia, Myanmar, Maldives, Mongolia and Sri Lanka during were invited. During the forum, BCRC China provided the training on the integrated electronic toolkit structure, functionalities, and use, and supported the regional countries in uploading NIP data to the toolkit for further considerations and improvements. Furthermore, the forum served as an opportunity for the communication on the topics of POPs monitoring capacity and needs, and priority areas where regional coordination is needed between BCRC China and participating countries. Maldives and Myanmar even developed their own national monitoring plan with the technical support by BCRC China. These activities significantly strengthened the dissemination of the updated knowledge and tools for the NIP reporting, as well as enhanced the capacity of NIP reporting and POPs monitoring for the developing countries in Asia and the Pacific.

It is worth mentioning that BCRC China developed five self-paced online courses on conducting POPs inventories and data handling and interpretation for POPs monitoring. The project team explored the suitable methods for developing e-courses and innovatively utilized one of the best course creation software to, resulting in high-quality online courses with high interactivity, self-paced learning, clear-cut structure, smooth display and comprehensive content. These online training courses not only contribute to the NIP project, but also enrich the training resources of UNEP learning platform, making a substantial contribution to the global knowledge-sharing in environmental protection efforts.