A/HRC/7/21 page 14 47. The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants of 22 May 2001 aims at protecting human health and the environment from persistent organic pollutants. Article 10 (i) provides that each party should, within its capabilities, promote and facilitate provision to the public of all available information on persistent organic pollutants and ensure that the public has access to public information and that the information is kept up to date. The Convention also calls for education and public awareness programmes to be developed, in particular for women, children and the poorly educated (art. 10 (1) (c)). Parties to the Convention are also obligated to make accessible to the public, on a timely and regular basis, the results of their research, development and monitoring activities pertaining to persistent organic pollutants (art. 11 (2) (e)). The Convention stipulates that, although parties that exchange information pursuant to the Convention should protect any confidential information, information on health and safety of humans and the environment should not be regarded as confidential (art. 9 (5)). 48. The Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal sets out obligations for the exchange of information for both the State concerned and interested parties. In article 4 (2) (f), the Convention clearly requires that information about a proposed transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and other wastes be provided to the States concerned and that it clearly state the effects of the proposed movement on human health and the environment. In article 4 (2) (h), it encourages cooperation through activities with other parties and/or interested organizations for the dissemination of information on transboundary movements in order to improve environmentally sound management and to work towards the prevention of illegal traffic. Article 13 (1) provides that parties to the Convention should ensure that, should an accident occur during the transboundary movement of wastes and other wastes or their disposal and that is likely to present risks to human health and the environment in other States, those States are immediately informed.16 49. The Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, signed in Aarhus, Denmark, on 25 June 1998,17 takes a very comprehensive approach to the recognition of the importance of the right to information and public participation. As at 17 September 2007, there were 41 parties to the Convention. Although it was open for signature only to State members of the Economic Commission for Europe and those with consultative status with it (art. 17), article 19 of the Convention opens the door to accession by other States on the condition that they are members of the United Nations and that the accession is approved by the meeting of the parties to the Convention. In the preamble, it states that “every person has the right to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being, and the duty, both individually and in association with others, to protect and improve the environment for the benefit of present and future generations”. In the following paragraph, it states that, in order to be able to assert that right and observe that duty, citizens must have access to information, be entitled to participate in decision-making and have access to justice in environmental matters, and, in that regard, citizens may need assistance in order to exercise their rights. 16 17 The text of the Convention is available from the Basel Convention website, www.basel.int. The text of the Convention is available from the website of the Economic Commission for Europe, www.unece.org.