Caribbean News

Environmental Monitoring a must for Caribbean Countries

Caribbean countries are some of the most environmentally fragile in the world. There is unquestionable evidence that man-made and natural activities contribute to environmental degradation. When one considers that in the Caribbean the environment is inextricably linked to our economic and social development, there is need for countries to have strong environmental monitoring programmes in order to identify where corrective action should be taken by governments, other stakeholders as well as citizens at large. 

One of the key requirements for good environmental monitoring regimes is adequate laboratory capacity to collect and analyse environmental quality information such as for water quality and other pollutants which impact negatively on humans and the environment. Unfortunately, many countries do not have adequate capacity either in terms of trained personnel or equipment. In countries, where laboratories exist, there is need for them to meet internationally accepted standards.
 
 To assist in addressing these needs, the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) and the Global Environment Facility-funded Project on Integrating Watershed and Coastal Areas Management (IWCAM) in the Small Island Developing States of the Caribbean (GEF-IWCAM Project) have organized a regional workshop on “Laboratory Quality Assurance and Method Quality Control” which takes place 12 – 15 May 2009 at the Bay Gardens Hotel, Rodney Bay, ST. LUCIA.
 
 The workshop is part of the laboratory strengthening exercise being conducted in countries participating in the GEF-IWCAM Project.
 
 The overall objective of the GEF-IWCAM Project is to strengthen participating countries to more effectively manage their watersheds and coastal areas. The long-term goal is to enhance their capacity to better plan and manage their aquatic resources and ecosystems given the significance of the environment to their sustainability.
 
 Laboratory managers, quality assurance officers and laboratory staff from Caribbean countries will be trained in the development, implementation and documentation of a laboratory quality management system that meets the requirements of the international laboratory standard ISO/IEC 17025 – General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories.
 
 The Workshop follows an assessment of laboratories in all of the participating countries which was performed by the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) and which aimed to enhance and develop their capability to perform basic analytical techniques in support of IWCAM objectives, and to develop the capacity for national environmental surveillance and monitoring.
 
 The GEF-IWCAM Project is co-implemented by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and co-executed by the Secretariat of the Cartagena Convention, UNEP Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UNEP-CAR/RCU) and the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI). The thirteen participating SIDS are: Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Cuba, Grenada, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago..

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