April 2011: The Global Environment Facility (GEF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) have launched a Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Awareness Training Module. The training module, aimed at GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) stakeholders, allows trainees to learn about POPs and test their knowledge.

According to GEF and UNDP, the online training module was developed by SGP in collaboration with the International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN). The objective of the initiative is to raise awareness about the Stockholm Convention, its legal and institutional arrangements and good cases or examples of community-based POPs management.

The POPs training module consists of seven chapters, including: the “The Dirty Dozen” and their characteristics; sources and uses of POPs; impacts of POPs on health and the environment; global institutions and policies to reduce and eliminate POPs; harnessing the power of NGO communities; case studies; and opportunities for national coordinators and steering committees to facilitate results in POPs focal areas. [POPs Awareness Training Course]