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.
Bangkok, Thailand - IPEN Participating Organizations (POs) from Jordan, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and Vietnam actively participated in a regional workshop for Asia-Pacific promoting regulatory and voluntary actions by government and industry to phase out lead in paint. Completing the 10-member civil society delegation were the IPEN regional coordinators for South Asia (SA) and Southeast and East Asia (SEA) and the IPEN Global Lead Paint Elimination Campaign team.
Panama City, Panama – Lead in paint was included in the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM) framework as an emerging policy issue at its 2nd International Conference on Chemicals Management in 2009. Thereafter, the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint was formed. IPEN plays an important role in the Alliance and is an executing partner in a SAICM project on eliminating lead paint.
Children's Environmental Health Foundation (CEHF) received a Shield and a Certificate Award during the 2019 Environmental and Climate Change Awards, which were hosted by the Government of Zambia through the Zambia Environmental Management Agency and Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection. The Event was officiated by the Deputy Secretary to the Cabinat, Mr. Chrispher Nvunga, and was welcomed by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Water Development, Sanitation and Environmental Protection Dr. Ed Bishop Chomba.
The IPEN Francophone Africa Hub, Centre de Recherche et d’Education pour le Développement (CREPD) organized its second regional meeting from the 30thto 31stMay 2019 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire. The last Francophone Africa Regional meeting took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon in December 2016. This meeting was an opportunity to share experiences and build the capacities of Participating Organizations (POs). The meeting was attended by POs from the Francophone Africa region, the Regional Coordinators of the Anglophone Africa and North Africa & Middle East hubs, and an IPEN Co-Chair.
The International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action is an annual event held every fourth week of October to raise awareness about the hazards of lead and lead paint. In 2018, events to mark the week were held in at least 50 countries. Of these, thirty-five events were organized by IPEN NGOs in 32 countries.
Regional Workshop for Central and Eastern Europe 19-20 March 2019, Almaty, Kazakhstan
Friday, 29 March 2019
IPENers from ten countries participated in a regional workshop organized by UNEP on the theme of promoting regulatory and voluntary action by government and industry to phase out lead in paint. IPEN's work, together with its participating organizations, was highlighted throughout the workshop, including presentations of the role of civil society, paint studies conducted in the region and working with SMEs to facilitate the phase out of lead from paint. Activities to eliminate lead paint by Greenwomen in Kazakhstan and Mama-86 in Ukraine were also presented, along with with information shared from the floor by several IPEN POs. Group discussions during the second day of the workshop provided additional opportunities for IPENers to provide their experiences and expertise in order to develop national approaches mapping out how new regulations on lead paint could be adopted, or existing ones strengthened.
