Computer Aid Launches E-Waste Partnership with the WEEE Centre in Nairobi, Kenya | 28/02/2012
London, UK - 28 February 2012 Computer Aid International, this morning launched a strategic e-waste partnership between the charity and The WEEE Centre in Nairobi, Kenya as part of its ongoing work into preventing and raising awareness of the harmful environmental impacts of end-of-life ICT equipment,.
The WEEE Centre is managed by one of Computer Aid’s long standing partners, Computer for Schools Kenya (CFSK) and is one of the first providers of environmentally sound recycling of e-waste in Africa.
Through this partnership, Computer Aid will be able to bring The WEEE Centre’s practical experience in e-waste management in Kenya to its ongoing advocacy work and training sessions across Africa, while CFSK will benefit from Computer Aid’s knowledge of e-waste issues across the continent. Combining the WEEE Centre’s experience in e-waste management with Computer Aid’s extensive network of contacts across Africa, will also enable the development and creation of e-waste recycling facilities in many more African countries that currently don’t benefit from having recycling centres.
Anja ffrench, Director of Communications at Computer Aid, says “There is a huge lack of understanding and resources to manage the growing volumes of e-waste across Africa. Currently, e-waste is often disposed of in landfills, where people manually sort through the waste. This is extremely damaging to both human health and the environment.
“As volumes of e-waste continue to grow, there is a pressing need for greater awareness and facilities to manage, what is becoming, an e-waste crisis. This partnership is an important step to further our work in promoting best practice in handling e-waste and in developing more e-waste facilities to help manage this problem.”
The launch of the partnership this morning was attended by Kenya’s Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Environment and Mineral Resources, Mr. Dan Mesis, highlighting the Kenyan Governments support for the development of safe e-waste management. Also in attendance were representatives from DFID, UNESCO, UNEP as well as representatives from foundations, corporate partners and universities from Kenya and Uganda.
Speaking at the launch today, Mr. Mesis said "It gives me great pleasure to be at this launch to witness yet another milestone in the achievement of local initiatives in addressing the challenges affecting our environment today and preparation for the future. This development of sharing local, regional and international skills and experiences to build local capacity is highly commendable."
For more information on Computer Aid’s e-waste advocacy work, please click here
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Media contact:
Anja ffrench
Tel: 020 8361 5540
Email: anja@computeraid.org
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Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for partnership between Computer Aid and the WEEE Centre by Gladys Muhunyo, Director of Africa Programmes, Computer Aid and Tom Musili, Founder/Director WEEE Centre