A mother in northern Nigeria is visibly upset as she clutches her two-year-old child, who has burns and discoloured skin on his face and legs. The 32-year-old used skin-whitening products on all six of her children, under pressure from her family, with results that she now deeply regrets. Read the full Press Release

Following a two-day technical workshop, the event culminated in January 22 with the adoption of the Libreville commitment on the elimination of mercury-containing skin-lightening cosmetics in Africa. This agreement calls for regional collaboration to foster stronger regulations, enhanced enforcement measures and public awareness campaigns to combat these harmful products.

Kampala. Uganda’s Ministry of Health (MOH), in collaboration with Ministry of Water and Environment (MoWE), with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) organized a stakeholders’ inception meeting in Kampala for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) project on phasing out mercury-containing devices in Uganda’s healthcare settings.

21-26 May 2023, Kara – Togo Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is recognised in Africa, and particularly in West Africa, as one of the income-generating activities for local communities. However, despite the positive economic benefits, particularly in terms of improving living conditions, ASGM requires special attention, particularly in terms of organisation, regulations and sustainable practices that respect human health and the environment.

As we reached the 6th anniversary of the Minamata Convention on Mercury entering into force, many countries are moving from planning to implementation of the required actions to make mercury history.

21-26 mai 2023, Kara – Togo L’extraction artisanale et à petite échelle de l’or est reconnue en Afrique, et particulièrement en Afrique de l’Ouest, comme l’une des activités génératrices de revenus pour les communautés autochtones. Cependant, malgré les retombées économiques positives notamment pour l’amélioration des conditions de vie des populations, la pratique de l’orpaillage nécessite une attention particulière notamment en termes d’organisation, réglementations, et pratiques durables respectueuses de la santé humaine et de l’environnement.

Toxic skin-lightening creams are still sold freely across South Africa, despite clear health dangers and the legacy of apartheid. In the dying days of apartheid, South Africa banned the sale of cosmetic creams that were designed to make black people look whiter. On 10 August 1990, the National Party health minister Dr Rina Venter banned the importation, manufacture and sale of cosmetic skin lighteners and also banned any products that claimed to “bleach”, “lighten” or “whiten” people’s skins.

“People are not living here, they are only surviving,” says Father Maurizio Binaghi as he surveys the sprawling, smoking Dandora landfill site from an elevated position on the grounds of the school he runs in Korogocho slum in Nairobi, Kenya. Dandora is one of Africa’s largest unregulated landfill sites. “The people who live near the dump have a saying,” says Father Binaghi: “‘I don’t know when I will die, but I do know what I will die from.’”

The eastern highlands of the Democratic Republic of the Congo make up the country’s highest and most rugged region. It is home to a series of mountains 80 to 560 km wide, extending from the Rwenzori Mountain in northeastern Congo through the Virunga volcanic ranges to the Mitumba Mountains.

A worker holds gold amalgamated with mercury, which will be burned off at a later stage. (Duncan Moore/UN Environment)Driving through the rolling hills and farming villages of western Kenya’s Kakamega County, it’s apparent why the region is known as the country’s green jewel.

Every year up to 15 million artisanal and small-scale gold miners are exposed to toxic mercury fumes. Around one third of these miners are women and children.