The National Environment Agency of The Gambia, with the support of UNITAR, launched a new project to “Strengthen Capacities for Implementation of the Strategic Approach to International Chemical Management (SAICM) and support GHS capacity building” at a workshop in Banjul on 18 August 2010.

Speaking at the workshop, The Gambia’s Minister of Forestry and the Environment, The Hon. Jatto Sillah, said that the Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS) is a new international tool that can be effectively used as a basis for developing comprehensive national chemical safety programmes.

As part of the two-year project, training will be conducted in order to define and classify hazards and communicate hazard information on labels and safety data sheets; the GHS covers all hazardous chemicals including substances, mixtures, and preparations. The target groups for the training will include agricultural workers, industrials workers, consumers, transport workers, emergency response teams and other relevant stakeholders. According to Mr. Momodou B. Sarr, the executive director of the National Environment Agency, “the GHS project has come at the right time since The Gambia is endeavoring to increase food production and comprehensively diversify the entire agricultural sector.”

The project is supported by the SAICM Quick Start Programme Trust Fund, with technical support from the UNITAR/ILO GHS Capacity Building Programme. The proceedings of the workshop were widely broadcast on local TV and radio. For local coverage of the event, please visit: http://today.gm/hi/news/2617.html.

For more information about SAICM: http://www.unitar.org/cwm/saicm/enabling-activities; www.saicm.org