United Nations Earth Summit+5 Success Stories - Training Workshops on the Safe Handling and Use of Pesticides and Household Chemicals in Thailand

EARTH SUMMIT+5
Special Session of the General Assembly to Review and Appraise
the Implementation of Agenda 21
New York, 23-27 June 1997
SUCCESS STORIES FROM ASIA AND THE PACIFIC

Training Workshops on the Safe Handling and Use of Pesticides and Household Chemicals in Thailand

Location Thailand.

Responsible Organization(s) UNEP, the Department of Non-formal Education and the Thai Foundation for Lifelong Education. Various Thai ministries provided resource persons.

Description Ignorance and anxiety to extract the most from their land can lead poor farmers to overuse or misuse pesticides to increase yields. Such practices have negative effects on human and environmental health. The project conducted five training workshops that trained 150 women in the safe handling and use of toxic substances as well as in imparting their knowledge to larger audiences at the village level. The 150 women, in turn, conducted their own local training sessions and trained 27,018 other Thai women about the dangers, use and management of toxic substances in their work-places and homes, and on how to disseminate this information to their families and communities.

Issues addressed Sustainable development education; safe handling of chemicals; empowering women.

Objectives
enhancing awareness of rural women leaders on the human health and environmental impacts associated with the misuse of pesticides and other chemicals through training;
providing trained women leaders with the skills needed to impart their knowledge to larger audiences at the village level.

Results achieved Over 150 women were trained who, in turn, conducted their own local training sessions and trained 27,018 other women. Clearly the workshops had excellent multiplier effects.

Lessons learned The project is easy to replicate and similar workshops were undertaken in other Asian countries. Master training manuals and guidelines for conducting training workshops, together with instructional posters, were published in the respective languages and distributed. The implementation of this project relied greatly on the involvement of NGO's, youth organizations and national authorities.

Financing The project was financed by UNEP at a cost of US$20,000.

Contact UNEP, PoB 30552 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel.: (254 2) 621234 Fax: (254 2) 226886/226890 Telex: 22068 UNEP KE

Copyright © United Nations
Department of Economic and Social Affairs
Comments and suggestions: esa@un.org
1 November 1997

	Training Workshops on the Safe Handling and Use of Pesticides and Household Chemicals in Thailand
	Location	Thailand.
	Responsible Organization(s)	UNEP, the Department of Non-formal Education and the Thai Foundation for Lifelong Education. Various Thai ministries provided resource persons.
	Description	Ignorance and anxiety to extract the most from their land can lead poor farmers to overuse or misuse pesticides to increase yields. Such practices have negative effects on human and environmental health. The project conducted five training workshops that trained 150 women in the safe handling and use of toxic substances as well as in imparting their knowledge to larger audiences at the village level. The 150 women, in turn, conducted their own local training sessions and trained 27,018 other Thai women about the dangers, use and management of toxic substances in their work-places and homes, and on how to disseminate this information to their families and communities.
	Issues addressed	Sustainable development education; safe handling of chemicals; empowering women.
	Objectives	enhancing awareness of rural women leaders on the human health and environmental impacts associated with the misuse of pesticides and other chemicals through training; providing trained women leaders with the skills needed to impart their knowledge to larger audiences at the village level.
	Results achieved	Over 150 women were trained who, in turn, conducted their own local training sessions and trained 27,018 other women. Clearly the workshops had excellent multiplier effects.
	Lessons learned	The project is easy to replicate and similar workshops were undertaken in other Asian countries. Master training manuals and guidelines for conducting training workshops, together with instructional posters, were published in the respective languages and distributed. The implementation of this project relied greatly on the involvement of NGO's, youth organizations and national authorities.
	Financing	The project was financed by UNEP at a cost of US$20,000.
	Contact	UNEP, PoB 30552 Nairobi, Kenya Tel.: (254 2) 621234 Fax: (254 2) 226886/226890 Telex: 22068 UNEP KE