Decision SC-3/19 established a regional organization group composed of six members for each of the five United Nations Regions (Africa, Asia &Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, Western Europe and Other States) to facilitate regional implementation of the global monitoring plan, and invited Parties to nominate members to those groups with expertise in monitoring and data evaluation.
The main objectives of the regional organization groups were to define and implement the regional strategy for information gathering, including capacity building and establishment of strategic partnerships in order to fill the identified data gaps, and to prepare the regional monitoring report as contribution to the first effectiveness evaluation report, to be presented to the Conference of the Parties at its fourth meeting in May 2009.
Terms of reference for the regional and global coordination groups
These are outlined in the decision SC-3/19 and in Annex III and Annex IV of the UNEP/POPS/COP.3/23/Rev.1 - Draft implementation plan for the global monitoring plan for the first effectiveness evaluation.
Global Coordination Group
The global coordination group comprises of three members from each region, nominated by the respective regional coordination groups. Its main role is to facilitate preparation of the global monitoring report, harmonize and coordinate activities and cooperation between the regions, evaluate the first phase of the global monitoring plan and develop recommendations for the Conference of Parties to be considered at its fourth meeting.
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Global Coordination Group members:
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Core media
A number of environmental media have been used to monitor environmental trends through time and the Parties have recognized the role that many of these could play in a global monitoring program. National programs reporting the concentration of priority chemicals in mussels, fish tissue, bird eggs and sediments have all been used to establish trends through time, but these programs are often regional in nature and may not be widely applicable across the globe. Each of these media has specific advantages and disadvantages for trend detection and difficulties in terms of sample collection, storage and analysis. For a number of reasons, the Conference of the Parties has chosen three core matrices – ambient air, human milk and / or human blood for global monitoring in that they provide information on the sources and transport of priority POPs and the levels of exposure in the human population. Data from regional programs using other media can be used to complement data from the core matrices in helping to establish trends using a weight of evidence approach. The first monitoring report, using data collected over the period 1998-2008, provides a baseline upon which concentrations in the core matrices will be studied over the long-term.
Progress of regional implementation
Monitoring Reports