Towards a non-toxic South-East Asia
Content:
Between 2007 and 2018, the Swedish Chemicals Agency coordinated a regional cooperation programme in South-East Asia together with Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand and Vietnam. The programme was called "Towards a non-toxic South-East Asia" and its overall aim was to contribute to reduced health and environmental risks from chemicals through better management of agricultural, industrial and consumer chemicals and sustainable intensification of agricultural production.
Watch a short film about the work and results in the programme “Towards a non-toxic South-East Asia”.
The regional programme in South-East Asia was built on a strong partnership with well-established organisations that together have many years of experience on dealing with chemicals management issues in the region.
The programme was coordinated by the Swedish Chemicals Agency and partners in the collaboration were:
- Swedish Chemicals Agency
External link. - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the Regional office for Asia and Oceania (Bangkok) External link.
- Pesticides Action Network Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) External link.
- The Field Alliance (TFA) External link.
Most activities were implemented in close cooperation with organisations and the governments in Cambodia, China, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
Activities
Working with both governmental agencies at different levels and with civil society organisations (CSOs) increases the opportunity to change behaviours and policies at all levels of society. Informed and empowered farmers, consumers and local community leaders enhance change from the bottom-up, while strengthening of regulatory control and enforcement of legislation simultaneously addresses the issues from the top-down.
Examples of activities:
- Monitoring of the use of pesticides at community level and feed back of this information to the policy-making level at local, national, regional and global level.
- Awareness-raising activities on the risks of pesticides, risk reduction measures and alternatives to chemical pesticides through face to face trainings and meetings, production and distribution of informational material and use of conventional and social media.
- Support to communities to develop action plans to reduce the exposure and use of hazardous chemicals
- Support for adoption of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) by smallholder farmers through participation in Farmers Field Schools and promotion of scaling up of farmer education on IPM and pesticide risk reduction by local governments and other donors.
- Support for improvement of legislation on pesticides, industrial and consumer chemicals and capacity for efficient enforcement of such legislation.
- Support for regional collaboration on chemicals management through organisation of regional forums and workshops for information sharing, networking and capacity building. Read more about regional forums here.
- Contribution and engagement in various global instruments on chemicals like the Stockholm and Rotterdam Convention and SAICM (Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management).
The most recent programme had funding from Sida from July 2013 to December 2018.
Publications
Printed materials:
Information brochure "Stories from the field" External link.
Information brochure "Towards a non-toxic environment in South-East Asia"
Fact sheets from Pesticides Action Network, Asia and the Pacific (PAN AP) External link.
Annual progress reports
Progress report 2017 (PDF 3000 kB)
, 3 MB.
Progress report 2016 (PDF 1590 kB) , 1.6 MB.
Progress report 2015 (PDF 2790 kB) , 2.8 MB.
Progress report 2014 (PDF 2060 kB) , 2.1 MB.
Progress report 2013 (PDF 910 kB) , 909.4 kB.
Final reports
Final Report 2010-2013 (PDF 1390 kB) , 1.4 MB.
Final Report 2013-2019 (PDF 4100 kB) , 4.1 MB.
Programme achievements 2007-2019, lessons learned and recommendations (PDF 3140 kB) , 3.1 MB.
Reports
PAN AP 2014, ”Children and Pesticides: Protect our Children from Toxic Pesticides” External link.
PAN AP, 2013 ”Poisoning Our Future: Children and Pesticides” External link.
PAN AP, 2011, ”Illegal Pesticide Trade in the Mekong Countries: Case of Lao PDR” External link.
PAN AP 2013, ”Breast Cancer, Pesticides and You!” External link.
Evaluations and reviews of the programme
Mid-Term Evaluation 2011 (PDF 2330 kB) , 2.3 MB.
Response to the 2011 evaluation by the programme management (PDF 238 kB) , 237.1 kB.
Mid-Term Review 2016 (PDF 2250 kB) , 2.2 MB.
Response to the 2016 review by the programme management (PDF 454 kB) , 453.1 kB.
Final evaluation by FAO 2019 External link.
Final evaluation by SIDA 2019 External link.
Programme document
Links to relevant guidance
International Code of Conduct on Pesticide Management External link.
FAO Pesticide Registration Toolkit External link.
IOMC Toolbox for Decision Making In Chemicals Management External link.