The Stockholm Convention Secretariat convened the “Regional Awareness Raising Workshop on New POPs and Reviewing/Updating National Implementation Plans Under the Stockholm Convention” in Kuwait city, Kuwait, from 14-16 December 2009.

A key objective of the workshop, which was organized for Arab speaking parties, was to raise awareness on the properties and uses of the nine new POPs added to Annexes A, B and C of the Stockholm Convention. The workshop resulted in recommendations on the need to: promote public awareness of POPs; enhance availability of information on new POPs; build capacity and training tools for new POPs, including a toolkit for the identification and quantification of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS); identify resources and assistance for national coordination; enhance the role of regional centres; and strengthen collaboration with the Basel Convention, Rotterdam Convention, Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management and Montreal Protocol. (IISD RS sources)