The work to achieve sustainable management of solid waste in the Pacific region continues under the Japanese Technical Cooperation Project for Promotion of Regional initiative on Solid Waste Management in Pacific Island Countries, Phase II Project (J-PRISM II), which aims to develop the capacity of Pacific island countries as a whole through the implementation of the Cleaner Pacific 2025 strategy to provide better solid waste management.
The project was developed as a solution to what has become one of the major concerns for small island countries in the Pacific when dealing with solid waste, and severe challenges with the increasing volume and changing characteristics of wastes.
Constraints which are unique to the Pacific, such as geographical isolation, limited resources and economic scale, and the dependence on foreign aid and imported goods have made management of solid waste more difficult for Pacific island countries.
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The project, on a regional level, aims to strengthen the monitoring mechanism for solid waste management in line with Cleaner Pacific 2025, organise and promote regional cooperation by utilising regional human resource and sharing good practices in the region, strengthen regional capacity of disaster waste management, and examine the practicality and sustainability of 3R+ Return system as well as at country level, the project activities tackle waste management needs of countries specific to the country’s situation and in line with Cleaner Pacific 2025.
In order to discuss and review the project activities at the regional and country levels, J-PRISM II hosted close to 100 participants for their Fourth Regional Steering Committee Meeting in August 2021. The meeting was held virtually due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and border restrictions, and was chaired by Samoa represented by Assistant Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Seumalo Afele Faiilagi.
Chief Advisor of J-PRISM II, Mr Satoru Mimura, said, “This meeting is very important not only as a mechanism to monitor the progress of the project in all nine countries, but it is also an opportunity to bring together the project team members and counterparts.”
During the discussions on the project activities, Mr Mimura briefly summarised the achievements made at the regional level through the four key project outputs, as well as planned activities for the remaining period.
Professor Kunitoshi Sakurai, Chair of the J-PRISM II Technical Advisory Committee, expressed his gratitude to all the project countries and counterparts for their efforts in carrying out the project activities, and congratulated them all on the great achievements and progress made despite the challenges and difficulties associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
J-PRISM II is a five-year project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and implemented by its partner agency the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP). It follows on from the success of the J-PRISM project which concluded in 2016.
The project is implemented in nine countries across the Pacific – Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Republic of Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu.
J-PRISM II will officially end in September 2022.
For more information, please contact Ms Ayako Yoshida, J-PRISM II Regional Cooperation/Project Coordinator, at [email protected] or visit the J-PRISM webpage https://www.sprep.org/j-prism-2/home