The International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS Pax Romana) has held a symposium on e-waste management in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, on 11 October, 2018, 

with the theme ‘Our Earth, Our Common Home’. This topic was chosen following Pope Francis’ Encyclical ‘Laudato Si’, a worldwide wake-up call to help humanity understand the destruction that man is rendering to the environment and his fellow man.

The objectives were: to raise awareness about the dangers of e-waste to man and the environment; to assess the state of e-waste management system in African countries; and, to develop a policy paper on e-waste management for Africa.

Participants included Catholic students from over 25 African countries. There were also representatives from organisations such as the Vatican; WEEE Centre, Kenya; Ministry of Environment, Cote d’Ivoire; ASDI, Togo; ECOWAS Youth Council, Nigeria; E-Terra, Nigeria; Pure Earth, Ghana; Enviroserve, Rwanda; Zeal Environment, Ghana; Basel Convention Coordinating Centre for the African Region (BCCC-Africa), among others. More than 80 persons participated.

Dr. Gilbert Adie, Research Associate with the BCCC-Africa, represented the Centre and gave a presentation titled ‘E-waste Pollution and Management: The Basel Convention Provisions’.