Environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes containing POPs and Mercury Prevent, Reduce and Eliminate the presence and emission of POPs and Mercury in Panama to protect public health and the environment in compliance with the Stockholm and Minamata Conventions. Note: Disbursement data provided is cumulative and covers disbursement made by the project Agency. The Global environmental benefits (GEB) of the project at the CEO endorsement stage are the same as presented at the PIF stage. The project’s GEBs include the following:   - 200 ton of equipment and materials containing PCB.  - 330 ton materials/residues containing HBCD (2.5 ton of HBCD).  - 350 kg of mercury.  - 6 gTEQ of unintentional POPs.  - 27,063.76 tCO2 eq.    The project will bring direct and indirect socioeconomic benefits. The direct and immediate benefits are those related to the implementation of the project itself, including employment of project staff, operators, and others; The project will strength capabilities of the national and local authorities, health sector, municipalities, waste management companies, construction and power sectors companies, creating opportunities for the adoption of new practices and technologies with added value.     At the national and local levels, the implementation of the pilot projects will generate opportunities to improve the quality of life of workers in the health, waste management and construction sectors due to improvement in ther working conditions due to the reduction of hazardous substances in their working environment; Also, they will demonstrate that the positive results of these pilot interventions would serve to improve and enforce current regulation for environmentally sound management of POPs and mercury. It is also expected that other LAC parties of the Stockholm and Minanata Conventions will follow and integrate these strategies in their efforts to phase out hazardous substances so the project benefits will extrapolate to other countries in the region. For this, a public awareness and communication strategy of the project results should result in direct gains for the citizens and the environment.    The project will also bring obvious indirect benefits. The removal of PCB sources (equipment, waste, and contaminated oil) from the environment, reduction of POPs emissions and sound management of mercury containting waste will prevent the contamination of the environment by these substances. This will translate into economic benefits in terms of reduced cases of illness and death due to POPs and mercury exposure, reduced work hours lost represented by a reduction in cases of illness and death due to exposure to POPs and mercury, savings in health care costs due to adverse effects of POPs and mercury, savings in costs associated with avoided deaths, prevention or minimisation of POPs and mercury contamination in soil, air, water, air and biota, cost savings from management of POPs and mercury contamination of soil, water and biota.    In addition, the socioeconomic benefits to be delivered by the project at the national and local levels include:  - Support COVID-19 response and mitigation of future pandemics through the promotion of activities that minimize health risks while reducing pollution.   - Improved policy, regulatory, monitoring and analysis frameworks, to safeguard human health and the environment.  - Assist on improving healthcare waste management and disposal.  - Contribute to an increased national capacity for hazardous waste treatment and disposal aligned to international guidelines.  - A general increase in awareness about the environmental impacts of POPs, mercury and toxic chemicals.  Reduced health impact from the exposure to hazardous chemicals, in particular PCBs, HBCD, Unintentional Persistent Organic Pollutants (UPOPs) and mercury.