IPEN Participating Organization BaliFokus organised a photo exhibit in the exhibition area of the Mercury Treaty's 7th Intenational Negotiating Committee (INC) meeting currently underway in the Dead Sea, Jordan. The exhibition shows some pictures of mercury intoxicated suspects, children and adults, from Indonesia's artisanal small-scale gold mining (ASGM) hotspots and the former thermometer factory in Kodaikanal, India.
Fernando Bejarano, Director of RAPAM, IPEN’s Regional Hub for Latin America and the Caribbean, participated in a workshop on “Minamata Convention, challenges and opportunities in Colombia” that was held in Bogota, Colombia in mid-November. The workshop was organized by the University of Los Andes Group on Environmental Law, the Colombian Environment and Foreign Officers Ministries, and the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), with sponsorship from the Swiss government.
IPEN Participating Organization BaliFokus is featured in this PBS NewsHour video about mercury poisoning due to small scale gold mining activities in indonesia.
RAU-RAU, Indonesia—Off the main road and down a terraced hillside, there is a small house painted a bright aqua. Behind the tidy house a much smaller bamboo hut sits on a foundation of stacked stones, like a cage on a platform.
Inside the hut it is dark, except for thin bands of light that filter through gaps in the bamboo walls.
A small girl lies on a blanket on the floor. Her mother crouches at her side.