This project selects 4 countries in Asia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to develop national PCBs management policies through comprehensive analysis on the status on PCBs and necessary supplementary investigation based on available NIPs, as the base to the regional strategy on PCBs management. A regional workshop attended by about 15 delegates will be organized to exchange activities and experience of PCBs management. Based on case study and regional desk study, the regional strategy on PCBs management will be develop and the regional information exchange platform will be developed in English and other 4 national languages through the website of BCRC China with reference to expert’s resource, research progress and other issues related to PCBs in Stockholm Convention. In addition, Ministry of Environmental Protection, China will participate in this project and act as the role of technical support to other partners in this project.

As the regional centre served for both Stockholm Convention and Basel Convention simultaneously in Asia-Pacific Region, Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for Asia & the Pacific (BCRC China) /Tsinghua University, acting as the executive agency, will be in charge of the whole project implementation and responsible for organizing, coordinating and communication with the participating countries. Meanwhile, the Environmental Authority from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are in charge of the activities held in their own countries respectively.

As the executive agency, BCRC China is one of the fourteen Basel Convention Regional and Coordinating Centres in the world, and is the only coordinating centre in Asia-Pacific Region. BCRC China was nominated by Chinese government and bureau members of the Convention as the Stockholm Convention Regional Centre in 2007 and become one of the eight Stockholm Convention Regional Centres in the world since 2009. The Stockholm Convention Regional Centre hosted by BCRC China serves 19 Parties of Stockholm Convention in Asia-Pacific Region.

This project is designed to last for 20 months from May 2010 to December 2011 at a cost of two hundred ninety-two thousand and nine hundred US dollars (292,900 USD) with two hundred forty-eight thousand and nine hundred (248,900 USD) funding from the Quick Start Programme, and 44,000 USD in-kind contributions from the project partners.

General objectives:

• To strengthen national institutional capacity on PCBs management;
• To facilitate the information exchange and experiences sharing on PCBs elimination and management at regional level.

Specific objectives:

• To organize the national expert meetings on status evaluation and national strategy of PCBs management and elimination.
• To develop the regional strategy on PCBs management and elimination from desk study on regional information and case study.
• To hold a regional workshop on exchange information and experience sharing on PCBs.
• To develop a regional exchange platform on PCBs at the website of BCRC China.

Project activities:

(1) To develop the national PCBs management policies by four participating countries through comprehensive analysis on the status and necessary supplementary investigation based on available NIPs: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. To organize a national experts meeting, including user, disposer of PCBs equipment to assess current management situation on PCBs and discuss national strategy on PCBs elimination in each of the four participating countries.

(2) To collect and share regional information related to PCBs through legal framework research, identification of the technology options and organizing a regional workshop, and develop a regional strategy on PCBs elimination and management through desk study and case study.

(3) To develop regional information exchange platform on PCBs through the website of BCRC China in English and other four languages of the participating countries, so as to develop a sustainable information exchange mechanism on PCBs.

Expected outcomes of the project:

1. Technical expertise and policy preparedness for PCBs management in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
2. Asia Pacific countries’ cooperation for POPs/PCBs management being increased.
3. Regional approaches for PCBs management being strengthened.

Outputs:

1. 4 national expert meetings on status evaluation and national strategy of PCBs management and elimination.
2. A regional strategy from regional desk study on regional information and case study.
3. A regional workshop to exchange information and experiences on PCBs management.
4. A regional multi-lingual information exchange platform developed at the website of BCRC China.
5. A project implementation report.

Job Opening for the project “Capacity Strengthening and Information Exchange on PCBs Management in Selected Asia Countries”

Pollution to the environment and harm to the human health from PCBs in developing countries is serious in Asia-Pacific Region. Low capacity on PCBs is one of the high priority problems in the implementation of the Stockholm Convention. At its fourth meeting in May 2009, the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention took a decision to initiate the establishment of a collaborative framework to promote and facilitate information exchange to support the delivery of the obligations of the Stockholm Convention on the environmentally sound management of PCBs. The PCBs Elimination Network (PEN) is required to be established. Little or no information exchange was recognized as one of the main obstacle for environmentally sound management of PCBs.

The objective of the “Capacity Strengthening and Information Exchange on PCBs Management in Selected Asia Countries” which supported by Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM) Quick Start Programme Trust Fund is to strengthen national institutional capacity on PCBs management and to facilitate the information exchange and experiences sharing on PCBs elimination and management at regional level.

This project selects 4 countries in Asia, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to develop national PCBs management policies by comprehensive analysis on the status and necessary supplementary investigation based on available NIPs. Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for Asia and the Pacific (BCRC China) acts as executive agency. A regional workshop attended by about 15 delegates will be organized to exchange activities and experience of PCBs management of participating countries. Based on case study and the desk study on regional information and national policies of participating countries, a regional strategy on PCBs management will be developed and a regional information exchange platform will be developed through the website of BCRC China with reference to expert’s resource, research progress and other issues related to PCBs in Stockholm Convention. In addition, Ministry of Environmental Protection, China will participate in this project and act as the role of technical support to other partners in this project.

The implementation structure will include a Chief Technical Advisor, 4 National Project Coordinators, 4 National Consultants, and a Project Manager. And the Job Description is as follows. Please fill your CV in the attached format and return back as soon as possible and no later than February 15, 2011.

Annex A Invitation letter to join the project “Capacity Strengthening and Information Exchange on PCBs Management in Selected Asia Countries”
Annex B Job Description- CHIEF TECHNICAL ADVISOR
Annex C Job Description- NATIONAL CONSULTANT
Annex D Job Description- NATIONAL PROJECT COORDINATOR
Annex E Job Description- PROJECT MANAGER
Annex F CV format