ICCM4 nano side event – UNITAR/ Switzerland/ OECD 

On 28 September 2015, UNITAR, in close cooperation with the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment and OECD, organised a side event on nanotechnologies and manufactured nanomaterials at the recent International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM4), in Geneva, Switzerland.

This was a very good opportunity to share lessons from the recent, successful regional workshops on nanosafety that took place in Zambia, Colombia and Thailand, organised by UNITAR, OECD, and the Government of Switzerland. Representatives of the host agencies were able to present outcomes of the workshops to interested delegates, with a full room listening to the presentations. (Documentation from the regional workshops can be found in the 2014-2015 Activities section of our website)

The side event also briefed the audience on the progress from national projects, namely Armenia, which is now in its final stages of policy development.

In addition to progress on UNITAR’s work, Richard Vincent (United Kingdom) presented work being undertaken in the UK, particularly on research and links to policy, and how this relates to the work of the European Union.

Gabi Eigenmann completed the panel and presented the thoughts of the Government of Switzerland on the work undertaken this year and how they envisage this work area evolving over the coming years.

Providing a summary and introducing a final question session was UNITAR senior expert Georg Karlaganis who stressed the work this year of the regional workshops and the importance of the discussions that would take place on a new resolution to support work in this area. (The proposed ICCM4 resolution on nanotechnologies and manufactured nanomaterials, and related actions up to 2020, was subsequently adopted during the conference.)

For more information on UNITAR’s work, please visit http://www.unitar.org/cwm/portfolio-projects/nanotechnology. 

From left to right: Sirasak Teparkum (Thailand), Max Nkoya (Zambia) and Alba Avila (Colombia, speaking), representing the three regional workshops