The project aims to reduce the environmental and public health risks associated with PCB spills by introducing environmentally sound management practices for PCB oils and PCB-contaminated equipment and has several components.

The African countries, in their major act of signing and ratifying the Stockholm Convention, were fully aware of the danger of persistent organic pollutants to human and animal health and the environment.

This danger was fundamentally a result of our weak capacity to manage these hazardous substances in an environmentally sound manner at the level of our companies and particularly at the level of the informal sector.

This is what justifies their accession to the Regional PCB Project, the fundamental objective of which is ultimately to eliminate, under appropriate conditions, PCBs, particularly at the level of the West African region, by putting the focus on the informal sector through the provision of a guide to good practices that can be used as an adjunct for better management of equipment containing PCBs.

1. To strengthen the technical, legal, economic and management capacity of the various hazardous waste and chemicals stakeholders in the countries served by the centre;
2. To promote cooperation for the prevention and monitoring of illegal trafficking inwaste;
3. To develop cooperation between the Basel Convention and the Bamako, Stockholmand Rotterdam Conventions;
4. To contribute in developing environmental standards in the Francophone sub-region;
5. To assist countries in implementing national hazardous waste and chemicalsmanagement programs;

6. To train executives, business and health facility managers, customs officers and otherlocal competent bodies;

7. To involve NGOs and other civil society segments in the management of hazardouswaste and chemicals;

8. To raise local communities’ and other stakeholders’ awareness of hazardous waste andchemicals management;

9. To advise on preparing hazardous waste and chemicals technical andmanagement/disposal guidelines.

The process of studying the draft framework agreement which was piloted in Senegal by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in conjunction with the Ministries of the Interior and of Finance led to the choice of the first option, namely the creation of the Centre in as a national institution with a regional vocation.

 After several consultations between the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and the competent Senegalese authorities (Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ministry responsible for the Environment) on the project provisions, the two parties have signed the agreement since the 1st March 2005. The said agreement was signed on behalf of Senegal by the Ambassador of Senegal to the United Nations in Geneva.

 A Steering Committee has been established to advise the Centre on the development and implementation of its activities and to strengthen national support for its activities for the Contracting Parties served by the Centre. The Steering Committee is composed of five (5) members appointed by the Contracting Parties served by the Center through a consultation process, for a period of four (4) years. The government of Senegal that hosts the Center is a permanent member. He is represented by the Ministry in charge of the Environment, through the Directorate of Environment and Listed Establishments (DEEC).

 A steering committee has been set up to advise the Centre on the development and implementation of its activities and (to strengthen national support for the activities of the Centre.)

 The composition of this steering committee was as follows:

 Chair: Burkina Faso,

Vice-president: Togo

Members: Mauritania, R D Congo, Senegal.

To days, the composition of this steering committee is as follows:

Presidency, Benin: Dr Pulchérie DONOUMASSOU SIMEON

Vice-president, Djibouti: Mr Ismael Nour Idriss

  Members:

              Côte d’Ivoire: Prof Sahouo Gustave BEDI

              Chad: Adoum Abakar Abdoulaye

              Senegal: Ms. Aita Sarr Seck

The Director of the Regional Centre is of Senegalese nationality. He is appointed by the competent authorities of Senegal in consultation with the Secretariat of the Basel Convention and Stockholm conventions.

 The Training and Technology Transfer Centre is a training and capacity building establishment. Its mission is to support member countries of French-speaking Africa in the implementation of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions and other conventions relating to the management of chemicals.

 He is therefore the correspondent for the Secretariats of the Basel, Stockholm Convention and other secretariats and organizations dealing with chemicals management at international and regional levels for all questions relating to training and technology transfer in the field of chemicals. environmentally sound management of chemicals and hazardous wastes.

Indeed, in the context of the selection process of the regional and subregional centers of the Stockholm Convention for capacity building and transfer of environmentally sound technologies set out in decision SC-3/12, annex I to the minutes From the UNEP / POPS / COP.3 / 30 meeting, the Centre submitted its candidacy to the Secretariat and was nominated to become a regional center for the Stockholm Convention.

During the Conference of the Parties (CoP5) of the said Convention, held in Geneva from 25 to 29 April 2011, the Center was designated as the Regional Center of the Stockholm Convention.

Thus, the Centre becomes a regional centre of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions for French-speaking African Countries (CRCB/BSRC-FA).

Direction de l'environnement et des établissements classés(DEEC)

Basel Convention on Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes

UNEP C hemicals

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES)

Economics and Trade Branch
Geneva Environment Network / International Environment House
Global Resource Information Database (GRID)

Information Unit for Conventions (IUC)

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)

Joint UNEP/OCHA Environment UnitPost-Conflict Assessment Branch

Regional Office for Europe
Regional Seas conventions and action plans

Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic

Pollutants (POPs)

Rotterdam Convention on Trade in Hazardous Chemicals (PIC)

UNEP-GEF Project on Development of National

Biosafety Frameworks

UN System-Wide Earthwatch

UNEP's on-line bookshop

The Centre’s Mission and Goals Beyond promoting the provisions of the Basel Convention, the Centre's mission is to assess the national situation regarding hazardous wastes and chemicals management related to the Basel and Rotterdam Conventions to promote technological knowledge transfer and information flow mechanisms related to hazardous waste, other waste, and chemicals to ensure their environmentally sound management. The main tasks of the Centre are as follows:

• The transfer of technology for the development of units to treats priority hazardous waste in Africa, such as waste oils and PCB-contaminated oil, biomedical waste, etc.;
• The mainstreaming and supervision of the informal sector dealing in the hazardous waste system; Better synergy with the Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions as well as other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs);
• Supporting countries in developing legislation to implement the provisions of the Basel Convention and other relevant conventions.

At the end of the First Conference of the Parties (COP I) of the Basel Convention, the special committee responsible for identifying the specific needs of the different regions in training and technology transfer, deemed it necessary to create four Regional Centres in Africa, grouping the Party countries according to their official language: the Dakar Centre for French-speaking countries; the Pretoria Centre for English-speaking countries; the Cairo centre for Arabic-speaking countries and the Nigeria-based coordination centre for Africa.

Following these recommendations, the Secretariat of the Basel Convention (SCB) conducted a feasibility study for the choice of countries to host these Centres. Senegal was designated as the host country to host the Basel Convention Regional Center for French-speaking African countries.

 The French-speaking African countries, meeting in Dakar in July 1997, endorsed this decision and recommended to the government of Senegal, pending the formalization of the center by a framework agreement (between UNEP / SCB and the government of Senegal), to house the Center through an institution capable of carrying out activities relating to the effective implementation of the Basel Convention.

 The choice of Senegal as the host country for the Basel Convention Regional Centre for French-speaking Africa was formally approved by the Conference of the Parties at its sixth session in December 2002 (Decision VI / 6).

Following resolution 5/17 CoP5 from the 5th conference of the parties to the Basel Convention, its secretariat has prepared a draft framework agreement comprising a set of identical basic provisions for all centres. These provisions take into account the specific needs and priorities of the different regions.

The draft framework agreement, which formed the basis for negotiations with the countries hosting the Centers, involved a proposal for an institutional arrangement with two options:

Option 1: The centre is designed as a national institution with a regional vocation.

Option 2: The centre is designed as an intergovernmental institution.

The first option was chosen the Centre was designed as a national institution with a regional vocation

Projects executed and closed during the 2016-2019 business plan

• Dissemination and adaptation of guidelines for the methodology of inventory, recycling, refurbishment and environmentally sound disposal of Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
• Capacity building and technical assistance program for the national plans for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention in the least developed African countries and small island developing States, carried out in 16 French-speaking African countries from 2013 to 2018.
• Project "Demonstration of a regional approach for an environmentally sound management of liquid waste from polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), transformers and capacitors containing PCBs in 14 French-speaking African countries".
• The e-waste Africa project (Waste electrical and electronic equipment) in Côte d'Ivoire and Benin from 2009 to 2012.
• PROBO KOALA project in Côte d'Ivoire on "capacity building for the monitoring and control of transboundary movements of hazardous chemicals and wastes and their environmentally sound management" from 2009 to 2011.
• Replication of the PROBO KOALA project in three French-speaking African countries (Gabon, Morocco and Madagascar) in 2012.

Workshops organized during the 2016-2019 business plan

Regional and sub-regional workshops

• Regional training workshop on capacity building for focal points in the Africa region for the implementation of the Basel and Rotterdam conventions.

Participating countries: 54 African countries

Place and date: Ndiambour, Dakar / Senegal, from September 16 to 19, 2019

• Sub-regional training workshop for network administrators on the online training platform and the network for the exchange of information on electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from five French-speaking African countries.

Participating countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Morocco, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Togo

Place and date: Dakar-Senegal from September 4 to 6, 2019

• National training workshop on the tutoring of six modules on validated WEEE (General information on WEEE, Inventory of WEEE, Legislation on WEEE, Procedure for prior consent and illicit trafficking of WEEE, Intervention on WEEE, Application network and Communication on WEEE).

Place and date: Dakar / Senegal, from August 27 to 30, 2019

• National training workshop for PCB holders on the development of the national PCB elimination plan and on calculating the energy efficiency of transformers,

Date and place: Douala / Cameroon, from 5 to 6 August 2019

   Preparatory Meeting of the Africa Region of the Conferences of the Parties to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, 14-17 March 2017 in Dakar / Senegal
    Working session to address specific regional issues related to the ratification and early implementation of the Minamata Convention in the Africa Region from 14 to 17 March 2017 in Dakar / Senegal

A sub-regional capacity building and technical assistance workshop for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention for judges and magistrate

Participating countries: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sao-Tomé, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo

Date and place: From 04 to 05 August 2016 in Dakar-Senegal

• Sub-regional workshop for Customs officers on "Capacity building and technical assistance for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention"

Participating countries: Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sao-Tomé, Liberia; Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo.

Place and date: Bamako / Mali from 28 to 29 September 2016

National workshops

National capacity-building workshops and technical assistance for the implementation of the Stockholm Convention

Participating countries (14): Benin, Burkina-Faso, Cape Verde, Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Conakry, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Sao-Tomé, Liberia; Sierra Leone, Chad, Togo.

Period: During the year 2017.

• National workshops on the chemical information exchange network (REIC / ESTIS Build)

Participating countries (3): Togo, Burkina Faso, Senegal in 2016

• National awareness workshops on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs),

Participating countries (6): Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Burkina Faso and Guinea

Period: From January to April 2016

The Center’ Vision

Remain a Centre of excellence that catalyzes the sustainable anchoring of the foundations for the environmentally sound and economically viable management of hazardous wastes, other wastes and chemicals in all French-speaking African countries.

 In view of the negative impact on health and the environment, linked to hazardous waste and the improper use of chemicals, the national authorities of all French-speaking African countries actively support and participate in the activities of the Centre, as well as all the private and public actors involved in the management of this waste.

 Each country covered has a national hazardous waste and chemicals management plan based on the promotion and application of the provisions of the Basel, Bamako, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions.

 On the basis of national legislation, African countries will develop a common strategy for the environmentally sound management of hazardous waste and the most problematic chemicals in our countries, by setting up sub-regional treatment units. Thus the transfers of hazardous waste between countries, for their treatment, will be done in compliance with all the procedures of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions.

Informal sector stakeholders will be informed, educated and trained to adopt mechanisms that are safe for their health and the environment, during the recovery and recycling of waste.

 Better still, industries will adopt clean production mechanisms that best limit the quantity and harmfulness of the hazardous waste generated.

 The Centre will make available to all countries a relevant database on the best hazardous waste treatment technologies, adapted to our economic context. It will strengthen the network of African experts in waste treatment.

The Centre has a library widely used by researchers, students and all those involved in the management of hazardous waste. To this is added a digital library which will be fed by the stakeholders.

 Finally, the Centre aims to become autonomous thanks to its own funding mechanisms, in particular partnership agreements which will be signed with private institutions and other partners concerned with protecting the health of populations and preserving the environment linked to management. safe and secure from chemicals and all types of hazardous waste.

THE DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT

Dear Focal Points,

the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, and the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants are the most significant international treaties currently in force for the management of hazardous wastes and chemical products.

The creation of regional centers is a strong act taken by the parties to the Basel and Stockholm conventions. To date, around thirty regional centers have been created around the world.

The Regional Center of the Basel and Stockholm Conventions for French-speaking African Countries (CRCB/SCRC-FA) aims to become a benchmark space for the environmentally sound management of chemicals, hazardous wastes and other wastes, serving African countries.

To do this, the Center intends to periodically strengthen its technical human resources capacities and its documentary base in order to support the targeted countries in the definition of their national action plan for the environmentally sound management of chemicals, hazardous wastes and other wastes. .

Solving the problems of our region in the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes and chemicals is the main challenge. This is only possible with the contribution and collaboration of all the actors concerned: government, private and civil society actors.

It is in this perspective that we tried to translate, in the Business Plan of the Centre 2020-2023, a set of training activities and projects reflecting the concerns of the countries of French-speaking Africa. We invite you to read this Business Plan, to immerse yourself in the vision of the Centre and to know the essentials of its activities.

The main activities of the Centre during the period 2020-2023 are focused on the management of the most problematic waste in Africa, namely PCBs, plastic waste, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), mercury waste, biomedical waste (DBM), tires, used oils, lead-acid batteries and used transistor batteries (BPAU), chemicals, in particular POPs, etc. These activities include, among others, carrying out a feasibility study for the establishment of a sub-regional processing unit for used oils, PCBs and obsolete pesticides, the development of national plans for DBM, WEEE, of BPAU and the revision of the National Implementation Plans (PNM) of POPs in the different countries served.

Rokhaya Ndiaye DIOP