This blog is based on remarks by Fathimath Fairooza during the Global Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP) round table “National Coordination Mechanisms for Robust NIP Implementation” held on 13 November 2025.
Geography, Vulnerability and the Need for Coordination
The Maldives’ efforts to update its National Implementation Plan (NIP) under the Stockholm Convention take place within a geographical landscape that presents unique regulatory and operational challenges. Comprising 1,190 islands grouped into 26 atolls, with 99 per cent of its territory consisting of ocean, the country faces constraints linked to geographic fragmentation, land scarcity and exposure to climate impacts. Waste generation is estimated at 324,000 tonnes annually, with hazardous chemical content varying across islands, and inadequate storage and disposal practices increase the risk of groundwater and marine contamination. With the population dispersed across 187 inhabited islands and 180 tourist resorts (including marinas) (Maldives Bureau of Statistics, 2024), chemicals management requires coordinated action across sectors and institutions that operate in dispersed and capacity-limited environments.
Within this context, effective implementation of the Stockholm Convention depends not only on technical expertise but also on governance arrangements that bring together multiple institutions responsible for pesticides control, waste management, environmental regulation, customs oversight, health protection and local government administration. Establishing a structured coordination mechanism has therefore been essential for guiding the NIP review and ensuring that institutional mandates are aligned.
Establishing a Structured Coordination Mechanism
The National Coordination Mechanism (NCM) of the Maldives was created through an iterative institutional mapping process, drawing on existing experience from the POPs project, the SP project and the ISLANDS programme. The stakeholder list guiding the formation of the NCM was informed by the country’s initial NIP from 2017, ensuring that all agencies with relevant legal or operational mandates were represented.
Chemicals management in the Maldives is characterised by overlapping responsibilities across ministries and enforcement bodies. Pesticide regulation, for example, involves the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Defence and Maldives Customs Services, while waste management responsibilities are shared between the Ministry of Tourism and Environment, the Environmental Regulatory Authority and Maldives Customs Services. These shared mandates reinforced the need for a dedicated mechanism capable of harmonising institutional roles and facilitating coherent decision-making.
The NCM was formalised through official invitation letters requesting each institution to appoint a member and an alternate representative. Its Terms of Reference, endorsed by the Basel and Stockholm Regional Centre for China (BCRC China), sets out the operational structure and responsibilities. The first meeting of the NCM took place on 30 May 2024, marking the start of a coordinated approach to chemicals governance in support of the NIP update.
Institutional Composition and Governance Model
The NCM includes an Executive and fourteen-member institutions that collectively cover the full span of chemicals and waste governance functions. These institutions include environmental regulators, aviation and customs authorities, defence and emergency response bodies, ministries responsible for agriculture, public works, cities and local government, health, transport and environment, as well as the Maldives National University and the Waste Management Corporation Limited. This broad composition reflects the multi-sectoral nature of chemicals management and provides a unified forum for discussing technical, regulatory and logistical matters relevant to the NIP update.
The Executive guides the mechanism’s operations, ensuring project coherence, accountability and timely delivery. Member institutions contribute technical insights, regulatory perspectives and operational support, and the NCM serves as the central platform for aligning workplans, reviewing progress and harmonising data flows.
Core Functions of the NCM in the NIP Update
The NCM has been tasked with providing strategic direction to the NIP review and update process, assessing progress and ensuring that activities remain within approved timelines, budgets and scopes. Member institutions allocate human and technical resources to support implementation, share information on chemicals-related initiatives and contribute to the development of coordinated approaches. During its first meeting, the NCM endorsed the project budget and clarified institutional responsibilities for the delivery of project activities.
Draft POPs inventory reports have since been submitted to the Project Management Unit for review. Once the inventory and national POPs profile are finalised, the NCM will support the organisation of a validation workshop. A second NCM meeting was held on 18 December 2025, and the project extension process is currently underway. In later stages, the NCM will guide the prioritisation of POPs management actions, review annual workplans and support the end-of-project review, including the documentation of lessons learned and recommendations for future scaling.
Operational Realities and Early Insights
The first meeting offered important insights into how the NCM can operate more effectively. Members recommended that future meetings be scheduled with adequate notice, accompanied by reminders and updated workplans circulated in advance. Given the country’s dispersed geography and limited technical personnel, hybrid meeting modalities were identified as essential for ensuring broad participation. Virtual engagement tools were highlighted as particularly important for stakeholders located on outer islands, where travel can be time-consuming and costly. Strengthening collaboration with local government authorities was identified as an additional means of accelerating the NIP review and update process.
These early lessons reflect the practical considerations of operating a multi-institutional mechanism within a small island developing state context, where logistical constraints and limited human resources require adaptive coordination arrangements.
Looking Forward: Building a Sustainable Coordination Framework
Although still in its early stages, the Maldives’ emerging NCM demonstrates how small island developing states can develop structured coordination systems tailored to their national circumstances. By aligning mandates across fourteen institutions, establishing clear communication channels and building collective ownership of the NIP update process, the Maldives is laying the foundations for more coherent and effective chemicals governance.
For other countries beginning similar processes, the Maldives’ experience illustrates the value of early institutional mapping, systematic engagement across sectors and iterative improvement based on initial operational experience. As the NCM continues to evolve, it is expected to play a central role in ensuring that the Maldives’ NIP update is technically robust, inclusive and responsive to national priorities.
To learn more about the Global NIP Update project, visit Global NIP Update | Green Policy Platform
For a deeper dive into the GGKP round table “National Coordination Mechanisms for Robust NIP Implementation”, you can access the full recordings and materials here: https://www.greenpolicyplatform.org/webinar/national-coordination-mechanisms-robust-nip-implementation
This article was curated by Soomin Bae, Knowledge Management Support Consultant, GGKP/GGGI and reviewed by Anastasiya Buchok, Senior Project Associate, GGKP/GGGI.
