OWN CORRESPONDENT, Nairobi | Thursday 8.00pm.
A MEMORANDUM of understanding on environmental laws in the three East African nations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda has been adopted, the United Nations Environment Programme said in a statement in Nairobi on Thursday.
Under the agreement, the three countries have agreed on common laws and regulations on wildlife, forestry, Lake Victoria management, hazardous wastes and chemicals, environmental impact assessment and standards.
Work on the agreement, signed in Nairobi at a two-day meeting of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, started in February 1995, when the three countries identified six priority areas.
The activities, executed under the auspices of the East African Sub-Regional Project of the UNEP/UN Development Programme Joint Project on Environmental Law and Institutions in Africa, were funded by the Dutch government.
The adoption of the memorandum of understanding sets the stage for the development of protocols on environment under the East African Treaty, also under public scrutiny, before its final adoption before the end of the year.