Cabo Verde’s National Implementation Plan under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants.

The National Implementation Plan is a national cross sectoral plan of Cabo Verde of 2017. Its main objective is to comply with the provisions of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), adopting measures to reduce or eliminate emissions of POPs, thus protecting human health and the environment. The text provides an overview of the management of POPs in Cabo Verde and, based on the situation found and the critical points identified, indicates the main challenges and priorities that should be considered for an effective implementation of the Stockholm Convention in the Country. The study also takes in account the main risks to the population, especially the poorest, most vulnerable groups and women (taking into account human health, the environment and the extent of the threat they pose in any situation).
The specific objectives of the Plan are: 1. Reduce the risks caused by POPs including new POPs to public health and the environment; 2. Ensure the sustainable and rational management of Pesticides and POPs-contaminated sites; 3. Decrease or eliminate emissions of Dioxins and Furans to the environment; 4. Identify, manage and eliminate POPs - Chemicals (PCBs, PFO`s and PDBE's etc ...); 5. Ensure analytical capabilities of POPs, which should achieve national and international quality levels; 6. Promote opportunities for public participation, training and information on POPs; 7. Identify and promote research activities on POPs; 8. Implement a system for recording emissions and transfer of contaminants, including POPs.
As part of the set of actions for the proper management of chemical substances, Cabo Verde, with the development of the National Plan of Implementation of the Stockholm Convention, aims to: 1. Comply with the obligations of the Stockholm Convention; 2. Reduce the risks to human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants; 3. Contribute to the improvement of the management of chemical substances, broadly structuring governance on the subject; 4. Strengthen and expand the capacities of the country's institutions for the management of chemical substances and the control of pollution; 5. Increase the population's knowledge of the harmful effects and risks associated with the use of chemicals, so that it is also an active part of the management improvement process.
The NIP was agreed upon by national partners and actors through a large consultation and validation of inventories meeting and contains actions to be carried out by various government institutions in their different spheres and others by the private sector. This National Implementation Plan expresses the government's commitment to meeting the obligations specified in the Stockholm Convention and incorporating them into national strategies for improving the management of chemicals. This NIP is a dynamic document which should be reviewed and updated periodically every 5 years and whenever necessary to reflect the decisions taken by the Conference of the Parties and the Government in the context of the improvement of their national environmental policies.
The following strategies and actions of the National Implementation Plan are adopted to meet the commitments of the Convention, based on the inventories made in the country and the intervention priorities that were determined. 1. Establishment of an institutional and administrative framework: to support the implementation of the Plan through the establishment of an administrative System; 2. Ensure a set of effective measures and policies that accompany the constant changes: to ensure adequate protection against POPs, taking into account the risks to the environment and public health; 3. Development of a training plan, a complementary activity of extreme importance for the effectiveness of the implementation of the Plan; 4. Analytical capacity, in order to evaluate aspects such as equipment available, technical personnel, experience etc.. 5. Information, Training and Awareness as bases for the successful implementation of the NIP; 6. Emission registration, pollutant transfer and information exchange system, to fulfill the obligations of registration, exchange and public knowledge established in the Stockholm Convention; 7. Research, to identify the national conditions related to POPs.