| Assistance
to Developing Countries and Countries with Economies in Transition
Technical
assistance consists of the development, harmonization, strengthening and
implementation of national environmental legislation and institutional
regimes in developing countries and countries with economies in transition.
It also provides support for the negotiation and implementation of international
environmental law.
Technical legal assistance is provided by UNEP upon official request by
the interested Government, within its available resources and under the
mandate received from UNGA
Resolution E3436 (XXX) of 9 December 1975 and subsequent Governing
Council Decisions. The services provided are tailored to meet the specific
needs of the respective beneficiaries, according to the request made and
to the needs-assessment carried out in a first scoping mission sent by
UNEP to the beneficiary country.
Since
the adoption of Agenda
21, UNEP bases its technical assistance model on national ownership
and commitment, in terms of which national legal experts and consultants
(in place of international consultants) play the major role in the development
and strengthening of their own legal and institutional regimes. The assistance
is provided to countries individually or to groups of countries.
Examples
of technical assistance include:
- Formulation
of Constitutional Provisions in the context of Constitutional revision
processes
- Development
of environmental Law Curricula
- Development
of framework environmental laws
- Development
of sectoral environmental laws
- Implementation
of Multilateral Agreements
- Development
and strengthening of environmental institutional regimes, ministries
of environment and environmental protection agencies
- Harmonization
of environmental legislation in regional and subregional contexts
- Legal support
to the regional preparatory process towards the World Summit on Sustainable
Development
Technical
Assistance starts with a scoping mission to the requesting country, where
a needs assessment is carried out to identify areas of environmental problems
and concerns and recommendations to mitigate environmental problems through
development of appropriate environmental legislation and institutions.
Countries that have received technical assistance.
Groups of countries assisted.
In a second step, existing environmental policies, legislation and institutional
regimes are reviewed. Afterwards UNEP assists in organizing national consensus
building workshops of stakeholders to recommend appropriate legal reforms;
finally, the process is ended by the country’s adoption of a law.
A. Technical Assistance for the Development, Strengthening and Harmonization of National Environmental Legislation
At
the national level, UNEP provides legal advisory services to developing
countries and countries with economies in transition, upon their request,
to develop and strengthen their national environmental legislation and
institutions and to harmonize existing environmental laws.
Since its establishment UNEP has provided legal technical assistance to
about 100 developing countries and countries with economies in transition
worldwide.
B. Technical Assistance for the Development and Implementation of Multilateral
Environmental Agreements (MEAs)
UNEP provides legal advice to developing countries and countries
with economies in transition for negotiation of Multilateral Environmental
Agreements both global and regional. UNEP has also provided support to
several countries and groups of countries, for the implementation of specific
conventions. Given the increase in the number of legally binding instruments
in the field of sustainable development, their implementation through
domestic legislation has become a top priority.
In the context of both forms of assistance outlined above, a specific initiative was the 1995-2000 UNEP/UNDP Joint
Project on Environmental Law and Institutions in Africa; a pilot project
intended to provide to seven countries legal and institutional frameworks
suitable for the rational management of the environment and natural resources
for sustainable development. Its successor
is the Partnership
for Development of Environmental Law and Institutions in Africa (PADELIA).
Technical
Assistance more>>
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Groups
of countries assisted:
- AMCEN (African
Ministerial Conference on Environment);
- Central American
Commission on Environment and Development
- Puebla-Panama
Plan (PPP)
- Southern African
Development Community (SADC)
- Environment and
Land Management Sector Coordination Unit (ELMS)
- Commonwealth
of Independent States (CIS)
- Caspian Sea Region
- PARLATINO
- Mesoamerican
Biological Corridor Project
- The Red Sea and
Gulf of Aden Environment Programme (PERSGA) and the Regional Organization
for the Protection of the Marine Environment (ROPME)
Countries
that have so far received technical assistance include:
Africa
Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad,
Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana,
Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique,
Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, Seychelles, South Africa,
Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Asia
and Pacific
Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Cook Islands, India, Indonesia,
Kiribati, Lao PDR, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea,
Samoa, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Vietnam
Europe
Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, Uzbekistan
Latin
America and Caribbean
Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Cuba, Guyana, Mexico,
Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad & Tobago
West
Asia
Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Yemen
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