The History of IPEN:

In 2008, IPEN is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

IPEN was launched in June 1998 at the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a POPs Convention in Montreal, Canada.

Since its inception early in 1998, IPEN has:

   Developed a POPs Elimination Platform, which summarizes some of the key findings about POPs' effects on the environment and human health and outlines the core principles that should be embodied in a global POPs agreement. At the conclusion of Convention negotiations, IPEN Participating Organisations reaffirmed their joint commitment to continue to work collectively to implement the POPs Convention by signing the Stockholm Declaration;

   Gained the participation of non-governmental organizations on six continents through their endorsement of the IPEN platform. IPEN continues to grow, and expects to gain the endorsement and participation of hundreds of NGOs around the world in the coming months;

   Convened NGOs, activists, and scientists for conferences that coincided with all POPs treaty negotiating sessions. IPEN was formally launched with a public forum at the first session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC1) in Montreal in June 1998. In January 1999, the network brought together representatives from around Africa for INC2 in Nairobi, Kenya. In September 1999, INC3 was held in Geneva, Switzerland. INC4 was held in Bonn, Germany in March 2000 and the final negotiating session was held in December 2000 in Johannesburg, South Africa;

   Established an organizational and governance structure consisting of a provisional Steering Committee, Secretariat, and two Co-Chairs. IPEN's current Co-Chairs are Dr. Mariann Lloyd-Smith, of the National Toxics Network in Australia, and Prof. Jamidu Katima, of AGENDA in Tanzania;

   Created Regional Focal Points in Africa, Latin America, Asia-Pacific, South Asia, Eastern Europe, Caucasus & Central Asia, and the Middle East. Regional Focal Points coordinate and communicate with IPEN Participating Organisations in their geographic regions, and report to the Network on the regions' needs, activities, and perspectives;

   Launched 3 Working Groups. In May 2001 IPEN established 3 Working Groups. Working Groups focus on specific activities related to POPs treaty implementation. These Working Groups are the Pesticides Working Group with a secretariat located in the office of Thanal in India; the Dioxin Wastes and Stockpiles Working Group, located at Arnika in the Czech Republic, and the Community Monitoring Working Group, located in the National Toxics Network in Australia; and

   Maintains an email listserve, mailing lists, and website for communication about POPs issues and the activities of IPEN and its Participating Organisations.

  Version: July 2008