Second AEHPMP Regional Dialogue, Accra, Ghana

The second AEHPMP Regional Dialogue gathered countries, global environmental pollution experts, and partners to exchange knowledge and brainstorm the way forward to effectively managing pollution and reducing environmental health risks. It provided an ideal exchange forum for AEHPMP countries to get informed about successful approaches to reduce environmental health risks and make informed decisions on national and regional policies.

First Regional Dialogue

Third Regional Dialogue

Here are take aways from the second Regional Dialogue

1. Awareness creation on health issues: the importance of strengthening the efforts of AEHPMP countries to raise awareness of the health impacts of pollution exposure and building their capacity to diagnose and treat, present regular monitoring and reporting results, and identify pollution exposure routes was highlighted.
2. Building capacity of local miners: empowering miners by providing access to fair markets, developing robust pre-investment criteria, and providing consistent support for steady improvement and adherence to sustainable gold standards can transform the ASGM sector.
3. Developing the e-waste sector: suggestions  such as employing targeted campaigns to create awareness among the public; tackling perverse incentives, addressing conflicting interests, improving private sector engagement (Downstream and upstream); breaking silos and improving cross-sectoral engagement (health, mining, environment industries); and upscale the efforts (demonstration centers, collection-dismantling-recycling facilities) were emphasized as means of developing the e-waste sector.
4. Sharing experiences: continuous experience sharing and bringing lessons from existing structures to ensure an inclusive sector instead of reinventing the wheels was also one of the key takeaways.
5. Gender issues: the most crucial step is to strengthen efforts to build an enabling and safe environment where women can voice their opinions by managing inherent power dynamics.
6. Research and development: bringing experts to share lessons that can inform further research in the local context and building targeted training programs for government officials, the informal sector, and recyclers.