00060074_SAICM Final Project Document-Liberia-10June10 - UNDP

Project Cover Page
Liberia UNDAF Outcome/Indicator: National economic policies and programmes are
being implemented to support equitable,
inclusive and sustainable socio-economic
development
Expected Outcome/Indicator:
Expected Output/Annual Targets:
Implementing partner: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Responsible parties: UNDP/Liberia |Agreed by |Signature |Date |
|Hon. Amara M. Konneh | | |
|Minister of Planning & Economic | | |
|Affairs | | |
|Mr. Thomas. Romeo Quioh | | |
|Acting Executive Director | | |
|Environmental Protection Agency | | |
|of Liberia | | |
|Mr. Dominic Sam | | |
|UNDP Country Director | | | TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT JUSTIFICATION 1
1.1 Liberia's Chemicals Situation Analysis 1 1.2 The Sound Management of Chemicals and integration into Liberia's MDG-
based Development Plans and Strategies 6 1.3 SAICM and the UNDP-UNEP Partnership Initiative 12 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND METHODOLOGY 13
2.1 Overview 13 2.2 Project Objectives 14 2.3 Project Methodology 15 2.4 Stakeholder Analysis and Participation 16 2.5 Gender Mainstreaming and Awareness Components 17 2.6 Vulnerable groups 20 3 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION: ACTIVITIES, OUTPUTS & OUTCOMES 21
3.1 Project Activity Area 1: Designating a National Project Manager,
National Project Coordinator and Project Initiation 21 3.2 Project Activity Area 2: Establishing a Cross-sectoral, Multi-
Stakeholder Inter-agency Coordinating Mechanism (ICM) 23 3.3 Project Activity Area 3: Research, Analysis and Planning in Support
of Improved SMC Governance Consistent with the Strategic Objectives
of SAICM 23 3.4 Project Activity Area 4: Planning to Implement Priority Actions,
Including via Mainstreaming in National Development Plans 25 3.5 Project Activity Area 5: Case Study Lessons Learned Documentation and
Revisions to the Draft UNDP Technical Guide 28 3.6 Success Indicators 28 3.7 Sustainability 28 3.8 Strategic Results Matrix 30 4 PROJECT WORK PLAN AND SCHEDULE 35
5 MANAGEMENT ARRANGEMENTS 37
5.1 Institutional Framework 37 5.2 Management Arrangements 37 5.3 Co-Financing (in-kind) 38 5.4 Financial Accountability 38 5.5 Reporting 38 5.6 Project Monitoring and Evaluation 38
INTRODUCTION AND PROJECT JUSTIFICATION 1 Liberia's Chemicals Management Situation[1]
General Background The Republic of Liberia has a land surface of 111,370 km2 and is situated
in West Africa, bordered on the west by Sierra Leone, on the north by
Guinea, on the east by Côte d'Ivoire and on the south by the Atlantic
Ocean. Lying just north of the equator, the country has a tropical climate
and is one of the wettest in the world, with an average annual rainfall of
more than 5,000mm. Liberia's population is currently estimated at 3.4
million with an annual growth rate of 4.9 per cent. Average life
expectancy is 39 years and an estimated 50 per cent of the population are
below the age of 20. Liberia is rich in natural resources, including iron ore, timber, diamonds,
gold and potential for hydropower. The economy of Liberia reflects the toll
of the civil war that ended in 2003; per capita GDP stands at US$ 165[2], a
dramatic drop from the pre-war 1980 level of US$ 1,269. Unemployment is
estimated at 85 per cent, with nearly half the population existing on less
than US$ 0.50 per day. Liberia is not currently rated on the Human
Development Index (HDI) given the lack of data. However, its HDI rating in
1999 was 0.276 placing it second from the bottom on the list of countries.6
As per the DAC list of ODA recipients, Liberia is ranked as a Least
Developed Country (LDC). Years of civil war and conflict coupled with the flight of most businesses
have disrupted formal economic activity and the domestic security situation
has slowed down the process of rebuilding Liberia's social and economic
structure. Liberia's economy is largely dependent on rubber, timber, gold,
diamonds and agricultural crops. In 2005, agriculture activities accounted
for 52 per cent of Liberia's GDP with only 12 per cent of GDP being
generated from the industrial sector. Fishery and maritime ship licensing
registry and services are also important. Most of the foreign earnings of
the country rely on the maritime registry and the timber industry. Conflict, Peace and Environmental Impact
In August 2003, a comprehensive peace agreement ended 14 years of civil
war, with current president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf democratically being
elected in November 2005. Liberia's infrastructure has greatly suffered from the civil war. The
destruction caused by it, in combination for long period of time during
which there was lacking government control over economic activities, caused
much of the environmental degradation in the country. Massive population displacement in the rural areas during the war led to
artificially accelerated urbanization, resulting in severe overcrowding in
towns and cities. Due to increasing insecurity in many parts of the
country, exodus of people into Monrovia has swelled the population to more
than one million. Combined with the absence of a coordinated strategy for
waste management and water provision, this has led to high levels of
pollution and the rapid spread of communicable diseases in urban areas. Major Chemicals Management Concerns[3]
14 Years of conflict and mismanagement during the civil war period have
resulted in a public services infrastructure that is greatly lacking in
capacity, extending from physical infrastructure such as electricity and
water supply, to political infrastructure such as legislation and
enforcement thereof. The lack of a formal chemicals management regime in Liberia has created and
exacerbated many of the environmental problems that the country currently
faces in reaching its goals for sustainable development. Overall, Liberia
has limited financial resources and a lack of technical expertise at the
national level necessary to develop and implement Sound Management of
Chemicals (SMC) programs that would support monitoring (law enforcement and
human/environmental health), dissemination of and access to available
information as well as opportunities for training and education in this
area. There is thus a need for Liberia to increase its access to necessary
financial resources for the sound management of chemicals and to further
develop technical SMC capacity at the national level by making
international bodies, specialized agencies and donors aware of the
challenges that it faces. The Government of Liberia (GOL) through the Liberia Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial
Development Organization (UNIDO) undertook the implementation of the GEF
funded project "enabling activities to facilitate early action on the
implementation of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
(POPs) in Liberia". According to the National Implementation Plan (NIP)
that was produced in August 2006 the most prevalent environmental problems
in Liberia include: 1. Destruction of the forest and vegetation by over-harvesting,
shifting cultivation, charcoal production and excavation without
any restoration;
2. Destruction of important habitats such as swamps and beaches by
solid waste dumping and urban encroachment;
3. Pollution of waters by industrial activities, mining, solid waste
and chemicals, as well as sewage;
4. Infrastructure activities like road construction, which create
larges pits, which are a danger to livestock and humans, as well as
becoming breeding grounds for mosquitoes when they fill up with
water;
5. Lack of environmental awareness; and
6. Lack of a chemicals management mechanism.
Some of Liberia's major concerns relative to the management of chemicals
that are highlighted in the NIP as well as the Liberia 2006 Common Country
Assessment (CCA) are: . Waste Management and Disposal: There is a general lack of operational
and sufficient waste management and disposal infrastructure. Open burning
of domestic and agricultural waste is by far one of the most abundant
sources of POPs release into the air, while untreated domestic waste
water is a significant source of POPs release to water. Presently, there
exist no safe facilities for hazardous waste disposal. . Water: The CCA states that it is unlikely that Liberia will achieve the
MDG target of 63 per cent safe water coverage by 2015. The decline in
access to safe water is largely due to the destruction of piped water
facilities. Increasing erosion, run-off and contamination of surface
water caused by uncontrolled human settlement, deforest