We are pleased to announce the official launch of the “Monitoring of POPs and mercury under the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions in the Africa Region” project. 

Dubbed the “Africa Regional Child Project”, the initiative is one of the six child projects under the Global Chemicals Monitoring Programme (GCMP), which was launched in June 2026 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). 

The GCMP initiative is designed to support the evaluation of the effectiveness of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and the Minamata Convention on Mercury

The Africa Regional Child Project was launched at an inception meeting jointly organised the Stockholm Convention Regional Centre-Kenya hosted by icipe, and the Basel and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centre (BCRC-SCRC) in Senegal with the guidance of UNEP and the support the GEF. The event organized at icipe Nairobi campus, brought together representatives from the 15 participating African countries, UNEP, the Secretariats of the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, technical experts and other stakeholders. 

Icipe will serve as a Regional Executing Agency for the Africa Regional Child Project, in nine Anglophone countries, supporting coordination, technical implementation, capacity strengthening, knowledge sharing and engagement with participating countries and partners.

The milestone establishes a shared regional approach to chemicals monitoring, strengthen technical and institutional capacity, deepen collaboration among countries and partners, and ensure that reliable monitoring data can contribute to informed decision-making. 

The Africa Regional Child Project was launched at an inception meeting jointly organised and hosted by icipe, in the Centre’s role as the Stockholm Convention Regional Centre-Kenya, and Basel and Stockholm Conventions Regional Centre (BCRC-SCRC) Senegal, with the guidance of UNEP and the support the GEF. The event brought together representatives from the 15 participating African countries, UNEP, the Secretariats of the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions, technical experts and other stakeholders.