On February 15, 2017, BAN Toxics was in Bangkok, Thailand to join different organizations and entities for the 18th Meeting of ARPEC themed ‘Gender and Human Rights in Environmental Crime’. The United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment) hosted the meeting which pursued a dialogue about gender and human rights issues as they related to the occurrence of environmental crime.
At the forum, BAN Toxics shared its experiences and some of its tools in mainstreaming the rights-based approach to environmental issues, particularly sound chemicals management. The presentation centered on the Statement of Principle developed during the Asian Regional Workshop on Human Rights and Chemicals, which highlighted the State’s duty to uphold, protect and fulfill human rights at each stage of the chemical’s life cycle.
BAN Toxics also discussed how to address gender issues in the context of environmental crime. BAN Toxics discussed its studies on the situation and roles of women in the artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) and informal electronic waste recycling sectors to show the gender-differentiated impacts of chemicals on women and children. BAN Toxics shared its work on promoting the development and integration of gender-responsive policies and programs, including strengthening the “shaping power” of women in environmental decision-making, in chemicals and waste management.
During the forum, the participants provided updates on their respective identified priorities and upcoming work plans and also agreed on possible areas of collaboration. The participants represented a wide range of organizations and entities who work on different environmental crime topics, such as wildlife crime, fisheries crime, pollution crime (including chemicals and waste crime) and more; collaboration was a fundamental theme in the dialogue among the different groups. Cooperation on common objectives, such as developing and distributing e-learning materials and conducting joint training, was a major highlight in the discussions from the forum.
The Asian Regional Partners Forum on Combating Environmental Crime (ARPEC) is an informal platform for organizations and other entities working on environmental crime issues in the region. Its purpose is to provide a forum for members to exchange views and information, promote best practices, discuss emerging trends, and explore opportunities to develop new or strengthen existing collaborations in the field of combating environmental crime. The forum was established in 2005 and UN Environment acts as the Secretariat.