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IPEN POs Join 2019 International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action

Over 40 IPEN participating organizations (POs) from 36 countries are taking part in the seventh annual International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action on October 20 to 26. Together with the other partners of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint, civil society groups will organize various activities to raise awareness and promote actions, such as the adoption and enforcement of laws banning lead paint, to address the human health effects of lead exposure, especially for children.

Key Findings in Lead in Playground Equipment

Reports: Lead in Children's Playgrounds in 5 Countries

Phillippines

Thailand

Malaysia

Mexico

Indonesia

Southeast and East Asia:

INDONESIA: Nexus3/BaliFokus will organize a media event to discuss the group’s research findings with journalists regarding the presence of lead in children’s play equipment in a number of playgrounds.

MALAYSIA: The Consumers’ Association of Penang (CAP) will organize a series of activities to publicize the findings of group’s research on the lead content of playground equipment and other items used by children. CAP will also launch a petition calling on the government to adopt a lead paint standard and regulation.

PHILIPPINES: The EcoWaste Coalition will hold an outdoor event to draw attention to the lead content of play equipment in public recreational facilities and the need to ensure a lead-safe play environment for all children. The group will also have a joint activity with the paint industry to announce and celebrate the third-party Lead Safe Paint® certification obtained by Sycwin Coating and Wires, Inc., a medium-sized paint manufacturer, for 590 decorative and industrial paints products under its 10 paint brands.

PHILIPPINES: The Interfacing Development Interventions for Sustainability (IDIS) will notify the Davao City Government about the lead-painted playground equipment in three public parks, and the need for remedial action to protect children from being exposed to lead in paint chips, dust and soil.

SOUTH KOREA: The Wonjin Institute for Occupational and Environmental Health (WIOEH) will release a study on the lead content of solvent-based paints sold for home use in South Korea. WIOEH will share the report to some members of the National Assembly to amend the current standard on lead in paint and push for a stricter regulation banning the use of lead in paint. They will also use the report to reach out to paint manufacturers and encourage reformulation of paints using alternatives to lead.

THAILAND: The Ecological Alert and Recovery – Thailand (EARTH) will observe the Week of Action by promoting materials on lead poisoning prevention on EARTH’s Thai and English websites and Facebook page.

VIETNAM: The Research Centre for Gender, Family and Environment in Development (CGFED) will develop, print and distribute leaflets describing the current status of lead paint in Vietnam and the effects of lead exposure on public health, especially on children.

South Asia:

BANGLADESH: The Association for Community Development (ACD) will embark on knowledge building for lead poisoning prevention through a district-level consultation targeting different stakeholders. The group will also conduct media advocacy to raise public awareness on lead poisoning and its impact on health.

BANGLADESH: The Environment and Social Development Organization (ESDO) will form a human chain in front of the Press Club to demand for a ban on lead paint by 2020. Like in previous years, ESDO will convene a round-table meeting involving government officials and other stakeholders, and maximize traditional and new media to mobilize support for lead a paint ban.

INDIA: Toxics Link will release a new report assessing the compliance to India’s lead paint regulations by prominent paint makers other than the manufacturers of well- known national brands. Prior to this, the group will conduct a paint brand survey in some states and procure the selected ones for laboratory analysis.

NEPAL: The Center for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED) will have a busy week to press for the effective implementation of Nepal’s mandatory lead paint standard of 90 ppm for all types of paints. Among the activities being planned include a stakeholders’ program in Pokhara, an interaction program with doctors and other healthcare professionals toward “Lead-Safe Kids” in Kathmandu, a school-based awareness program, and a public information drive through radio and TV public service announcements.

SRI LANKA: The Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) plans to have an art competition and award ceremony for school children to inform the young participants about lead poisoning issues. An outdoor fun game and quiz program is also planned for both adults and children to share factual information about lead exposure risks in an entertaining manner. To conclude the week, a press conference is also being planned.

Middle East and North Africa:

JORDAN: The Land and Human to Advocate Progress (LHAP) will conduct a media awareness and lobbying campaign to urge the government of Jordan to fast track the adoption of a stricter national legislation—90 ppm lead limit for decorative architectural paints.

LEBANON: The Human Environmental Association for Development (HEAD) will conduct an awareness campaign in collaboration with Red Cross Lebanon that will explain to household women and others about the problems with lead paint.

LEBANON: INNODEV-Lebanon will organize a public meeting to discuss the health risks and impacts of lead-containing paints produced, distributed and used in Lebanon and the urgent need for a national regulation for the protection of public health and the environment.

MOROCCO: The Association Marocaine Sante, Environnement et Toxicovigilance (AMSETox) will hold a workshop to sensitize the participants about the sources and health effects of lead exposure, the problems with lead in paint, and the need to regulate such paint in Morocco.

TUNISIA: The Association de l'Education Environnementale pour les Futures Générations (AEEFG) will advocate for a national law to eliminate lead paint in Tunisia. In addition to media outreach, AEEFG will support a municipality in repainting a classroom with lead-safe paint.

Anglophone Africa:

GAMBIA: The Young Volunteers for the Environment (YVE) will organize a national stakeholder awareness forum on the hazards of lead paints and the elimination of such paints in The Gambia with diverse participants, including key government officials.

NIGERIA: The Sustainable Research and Action for Environmental Development (SRADev), in conjunction with 2019 Coatings Show, will hold a joint media event with the Paint Manufacturers Association and the Standards Organization of Nigeria, to raise awareness on lead in paint among small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and to facilitate their access to lead-free raw materials. SRADeV will also collect information about the national paint market, especially on SMEs.

RWANDA: The Association Rwandaise des Ecologistes (ARECO) will conduct an outreach campaign to promote the phase-out of lead in Rwanda through meetings with various sectors, and the production and distribution of information materials.

TANZANIA: The Agenda for Environment and Responsible Development (AGENDA) will engage the media to find out the state of enforcement of Tanzania’s lead paint standard, while continuing to urge regulatory authorities to heighten public awareness about the health effects of lead exposure and the need to effectively enforce lead paint standard.

UGANDA: The National Association of Professional Environmentalists (NAPE) will organize talk shows through its Community Green Radio and utilize the social media to raise awareness on the dangers of lead poisoning from lead paint and dust and other things containing lead such as children’s playground equipment.

UGANDA: The Uganda Network on Toxic-Free Malaria Control (UNETMAC) will prepare and produce lead poisoning reduction policy briefs to be distributed at a press conference that will be attended by government officials and paint industry executives.

UGANDA: The Western Media for Environment and Conservation (WEMECO) will hold a media conference during the Week of Action to highlight the dangers of lead as a public health concern in Uganda.

ZAMBIA: The Children’s Environmental Health Foundation (CEHF) will hold various activities to advance the elimination of lead paint in Zambia, including working with the government in convening a committee to draft the country’s lead paint law. It will again participate in the celebration of Zambia’s Independence Day to raise awareness and support for concerted action versus lead paint.

Francophone Africa:

BENIN: The Groupe d'Action pour la Promotion et la Protection de la Flore et la Faune (GAPROFFA) will hold a meeting with students at the University of Abomey-Calavi to raise their awareness about lead poisoning risks using the results of the study conducted by the group on the lead content of household paints sold in Benin.

BENIN: La Grande Puissance de Dieu will hold a workshop to sensitize painters about lead poisoning and engage them and other stakeholders to get involved in this cause. The group will also use the social media to spread information.

CAMEROON: The Centre de Recherche et d’Education pour le Développement (CREPD) will use the Week of Action to reach out to decision and policy makers to build long-term national capacity to end lead poisoning in Cameroon beyond the existing regulation on lead paint.

CAMEROON: The Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environement Cameroun will inform various sectors about the sources and effects of lead poisoning through a community program, media engagement and the social media.

GUINEE: The Carbone Guinée will organize a workshop for stakeholders, including those from the government and paint industry, to discuss the strategy toward the adoption of the ban or gradual elimination of lead in paint by 2020.

COTE D’IVOIRE: The Jeunes Volontaires pour l’Environnement (JVE-Côte d’Ivoire) will hold a workshop to discuss and define a strategy that will accelerate the adoption and implementation of a lead paint regulatory framework.

TOGO: The Les Amis de la Terre-Togo (ADT-Togo) will organize a meeting targeting senior officials from key ministries, as well as paint industry and media representatives, to discuss the regulation of lead paint in the country.

Eastern Europe, Caucasus and Central Asia:

ARMENIA: The Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (AWHHE) will conduct an awareness raising campaign on lead in paints that will target local civil society organizations and retailers in the Ararat and Armavir provinces. A presentation in Armenian language will highlight the health and environmental risks for children and women of child-bearing age and share information about available alternatives.

AZERBAIJAN: The Ecological Society “Ruzgar” will organize an excursion for technical experts, NGO representatives and journalists to a paint manufacturing facility where technologies and materials for non-lead paint production will be shared.

KAZAKHSTAN: The Greenwomen Analytical Environmental Agency will prepare a brief overview of the Technical Regulations on the “Safety Requirements for Paints, Varnishes and Solvents” of the Eurasian Economic Union and the Republic of Kazakhstan’s legislation aimed at regulating lead in paint, as well as a comparative analysis of the actions taken by other countries.

RUSSIA: The Eco-Accord will organize a multi-stakeholder round table to present scientific data on the dangerous impact of lead in paint on health, discuss loopholes in current legislation and the views from different groups to improve it, and enhance cooperation by all sectors to solve the problem effectively.

TAJIKISTAN: The Foundation to Support Civil Society Initiatives (FSCI, Dastgiri Center) will host a round table discussion about lead paint, the availability of lead-safe paint and the ways to better regulated lead in paint in Tajikistan. The group will also interview key stakeholders about the possibility of developing a national legislation to control lead paint in the country.

UKRAINE: The Chemical Safety Agency (CSA) will mark the Week of Action by lobbying for the approval of the draft technical regulation on limitation of lead in paint and related materials. The group will raise public awareness about the issue such as by preparing and disseminating information materials and by participating in radio and TV programs on chemical safety, including the negative impacts on health of lead in paint and other sources of lead exposure.

Central and Eastern Europe:

ALBANIA: The Eden Center will gather and share information about lead in paint in Albania, the legislation in place and the future plans of the government to control and minimize the impact of lead in paint on public health and the environment.

Latin America and the Caribbean:

ARGENTINA: The Taller Ecologista will present the results of a new study on the lead content of paints made and sold in the region. Information will also be provided on occupation safety and health regulation in relation to lead in work environments and the UNEP/WHO limit on the concentration of lead in paint.

COLOMBIA. Colnodo, in line with its mission to strengthen the quality of life of people through the strategic use of information and communication technologies, will publish during the Week of Action the results of the questionnaire survey it conducted to know the extent of parental knowledge about lead poisoning and its prevention.

JAMAICA: The Caribbean Poison Information Network (CARPIN) will conduct activities around the theme: “Healthy children build a healthy nation: Say no to lead in paint.” CARPIN will have a booth display at the University of Technology, Jamaica Papine Campus, and host a public forum and panel discussion with key stakeholders.

MEXICO: Casa Cem will present the results of a study on lead in playgrounds in Mexico in a short documentary.