Launching of National Waste Management Strategy and Master Plan (NWMSMP) in Myanmar

The Government of Myanmar officially launched its National Waste Management Strategy and Master Plan (NWMSMP, 2018-2030) at the 6th Green Economy Green Growth (GEGG) Forum, organized in Nay Pyi Taw on 4-5 February 2020. The NWMSMP was developed by the Environmental Conservation Department (ECD) of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC), in collaboration with the IGES Centre Collaborating with UNEP on Environmental Technologies (CCET), and support from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC), and the Ministry of Environment, Japan (MOEJ).

The NWMSMP is the first national initiative aimed at institutionalising waste management, and as such offers a vision document and strategic guide for addressing key issues, opportunities and challenges associated with achieving a resource efficient and zero waste society.

H.E. U Ohn Win, Union Minister, MONREC, presided over the opening of GEGG and launching of NWMSMP, with participation of the Union Minister of Agriculture, and the Minister of Education, and around 500 participants, including diplomats, officials and other key stakeholders from all parts of Myanmar. At the launch event, Mr. Kazunobu Onogawa, Director of CCET, highlighted the function that this strategy can play in achieving the SDGs in Myanmar, after introducing the history of strategy development and collaboration with MONREC and CCET. Mr. Onogawa also touched upon the need to operationalize the concepts and strategies, and the importance of on the ground implementation. As an example, he described collaboration between Mandalay City and CCET, in support of its city-level waste management strategy development, along with implementation of pilot projects.