Several South Asian public interest groups have demanded of the Government of Pakistan to take action to eliminate Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). They said, "POPs is a global menace adversely affecting environment and human health, particularly that of women and children."
This was the consensus opinion of several public interest groups of South Asia, which gathered in Islamabad at a skill share workshop on POPs, organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) in collaboration with an India-based environment group, Toxics Link, here on Tuesday.
Over 30 participating organisations, representing Sub-continent, initiated the global NGO-POPs Elimination project being implemented by the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN), a global network of public interest non-governmental organisations united in support of a common POPs Elimination Platform, in association with the Unido, UNEP and GEF.
It is simultaneously being implemented in eight regions across the globe, South Asia being one of them. SDPI Executive Director Dr Saba Gul Khattak inaugurated the workshop.
The participants of the workshop stressed upon civil society organisations to enhance their capacity to deal with the issues related to POPs and to play a constructive role in the implementation of the global treaty on POPs - the Stockholm Convention.
The workshop was informed that POPs commonly understood as chemical substances that persist in the environment, bio-accumulate through the food web, transported globally and pose a risk causing adverse affects to human health and environment.
This group of priority pollutants consists of pesticides (such as DDT, Dieldrin and Aldrin), industrial chemicals (such as polychlorinated bi-phenyls, PCBs) and unintentional by-products of industrial processes (such as dioxins and furans).
The case studies presented from India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka during the workshop make it evident that POPs is not only single country's issue, but the entire South Asia region are facing this problem.
"The irreversible damage caused by POPs is not limited to one generation, but transcends to generations as has been evident by the use of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war, the health affects of which are still there," they added.
POPs cannot be eliminated by efforts of any single agency and what is required is concerted action by all the stakeholders, including the NGOs and the media.
The participants also urged their respective governments to help in resolving the issue and to improve public participation in the planning and implementation processes.
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