Chemicals and Waste Management Programme

UNITAR's Chemicals and Waste Management Programme (CWM) provides support to governments and stakeholders to strengthen their institutional, technical, and legal infrastructure and capacity for sound chemicals management. Project activities take place within the framework of implementing international agreements—such as the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM), Stockholm Convention, and Rotterdam Convention—aimed at protecting human health and the environment, while ensuring sustainable industrial development and facilitating the trade of chemicals. The UNITAR approach to capacity building supports a country-driven and integrated approach to chemicals management, as endorsed at the first International Conference on Chemicals Management (ICCM1) in Dubai, February 2006 and is linked to the 2020 goal to achieve the sound management of chemicals as adopted at the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in South Africa in 2002.

To-date, with UNITAR support:

  • more than 100 countries have completed a National Chemicals Management Profile
  • some 30 countries have initiated a National Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals
  • about 50 countries have participated in skills-building workshops for sound action plan development
  • more than 50 countries are undertaking enabling activities for SAICM implementation
  • 5 countries have an operational national PRTR system in place
  • 10 countries have initiated a National GHS Implementation Strategy 


Since 1996, UNITAR has been a member of the Inter-Organization Programme for the Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC)—a collaborative agreement among UNEP, WHO, ILO, FAO, UNIDO, UNITAR and OECD. Other strategic partners include the Secretariats of the Stockholm, Rotterdam, Basel and Chemical Weapons Conventions. Core donors have included Switzerland, the United States, The Netherlands, the European Commission, Canada, UNDP, UNEP, and GEF.

Programme areas at present include: SAICM, POPs, PIC, GHS, PRTR, Mercury, Risk Management, and Knowledge Sharing.