Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Workshop on the Establishment of Legal Limits on Lead in Paint

The workshop was co-hosted by the Government of the Republic of Moldova and UNEP, will take place on 19-20 May 2016 in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova.

Lead is a cumulative toxicant particularly hazardous to young children and pregnant women. Currently there is no safe level of lead established. Lead paint, which is still widely available in developing countries, is a major route of lead exposure, especially for children. UNEP and the World Health Organization (WHO) support the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paints (Lead Paint Alliance), a global partnership aiming at introducing legal limits on lead in paint in all countries by 2020.

 In response to the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) Resolution 1/5 Chemicals and Waste VI on lead and cadmium (June 2014) which “requests the United Nations Environment Programme, in coordination with the World Health Organization, to continue to build capacity on lead paint through possible regional workshops”, UNEP and IPEN jointly organized back-to-back workshops in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on December 2-4: the East Africa Sub-regional Workshop on the Establishment of Legal Limits on Lead in Paint and the GEF UNEP/IPEN Regional Lead Paint Elimination Project in Africa Workshop.

The Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia Regional Workshop on the Establishment of Legal Limits on Lead in Paint (19-20 May 2016 in Chișinău, Republic of Moldova), co-hosted by the Government of the Republic of Moldova and UNEP, aims to advance understanding, commitment, and action towards the elimination of lead in paint in the Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions.

The specific objectives of the workshop are:

• Share the understandings of the health and environmental risks of the lead in paint
• Exchange information on the government policies and stakeholder actions, and available tools and experiences towards the elimination of lead in paint
• Introduce available resources on InforMEA and ECOLEX as tools for building knowledge and understanding of environmental law, including legislation on lead in paint
• Develop strategies for establishing legal limits on lead in paint at national, regional, and/or sub-regional levels
• Foster commitment of governments and stakeholders and agree on future actions.

Follow-up actions after this workshop may include information sharing in national policy development, initiation of regional process, improvements in the toolkit, and reporting towards future meetings, including but not limited to UNEA 2.