The Sub-regional Workshop for Caribbean countries in support for the Ratification and early Implementation of the Minamata Convention on Mercury was held from 19th to 21st January, 2015 at the Hilton Trinidad, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
The Workshop was hosted by the Interim Secretariat of the Minamata Convention in conjunction with the Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean). Designed to ensure the appropriate enabling environment is created at the country level, the Workshop was intended to facilitate the effective and efficient implementation of the Minamata Convention in the interim period until it enters into force.
In attendance were government representatives of twelve (12) Caribbean countries and delegates from Latin American countries. Additionally, local and sub-regional stakeholder organisations involved in the manufacture, use or management of mercury were also present. Ms. Keima Gardiner, Environmental Engineering Specialist from Environmental Policy and Planning Division, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources (MEWR) was among the representatives of the Trinidad and Tobago delegation.
Representatives from regional, inter-governmental, and non-governmental organisations also participated in the meeting. These organisations included: CARICOM, United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), Global Environmental Facility (GEF), UN Development Programme (UNDP), United States Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), officers from UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (ROLAC) and its Division of Technology, Industry and Economics and IPEN.
Permanent Secretary of the MEWR, Ms. Vidiah Ramkhelawan delivered the feature remarks at the Workshop. She encouraged participants to utilise the three day session to expand their knowledge base in an effort towards developing resolute, collaborative and comprehensive decisions with respect to the environmentally sound management of mercury in their respective territories.
The forum involved an exploration into each of the Articles of the Minamata Convention with group activities for certain key provisions and culminated with participants creating a draft country road map for the ratification and early implementation of the Convention.
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Participants of the Sub-Regional Workshop for the Caribbean on the Implementation of the Minamata Convention in January, 2015 including Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh (Head, Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit, MEWR ( Front row, second from the left), Ms. Ramkhelawan (front row, middle) and Ms. Gardiner (back row, first from the left)
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