Central and West Africa Workshop on the Development of National and Regional Regulations and Standards on Lead In Paints

The Central and West Africa Workshop on the Development of National and Regional Regulations and Standards on Lead In Paints took place on 8-9 December 2016, co-hosted by Government of the Republic of Cameroon, the United Nations Environment and IPEN, in Yaoundé, the Republic of Cameroon. 

IPEN is the executing agency of the Lead Paint Elimination Project in Africa, funded by the Global Environment Facility and Implemented by the United Nations Environment (UNEP). The project focusses on eliminating lead paint in four focus countries, Cameroon, Côte d´Ivoire, Ethiopia and Tanzania through promoting regulatory controls on lead paint, analyzing and reporting on lead content of paints on the market, and raise awareness among business entrepreneurs, government officials, and consumers about the adverse human health impacts of lead paint, particularly on the health of children. The project also aims to support development of national plans to eliminate lead paint in other African countries through generating data on lead in paint, disseminate information materials and conduct regional workshops. The project is executed in partnership with Centre de Recherche et d'Education pour le Développement (CREPD) in Cameroon, Pesticide Action Nexus Association in Ethiopia, Jeunes Volontaires pour l'Environnement (JVE) in Côte d´Ivoire and AGENDA for Environment and Responsible Development in Tanzania.

The Central and West Africa Workshop on the Development of National and Regional Regulations and Standards on Lead in Paints is conducted to support next steps in these countries towards enactment of national and regional standards and regulations limiting lead content of paint to a total of 90 ppm.

The workshop will consist of four sessions:

• Session I - Importance of Global Lead Paint Elimination - will present background information explaining why lead paint must be eliminated, put the Africa lead paint elimination effort into its global context and introduce the Toolkit For Establishing Laws to Control the Use of Lead in Paint
• ​Session II – Establishing Laws to Eliminate Lead Paint – will give guidance to important building blocks of a lead paint law, introduce the potential for regionally implemented limits and regulations on lead in paint and discuss implementation and next steps.
• Session III - Technical Background to Eliminate Lead Paint – will go into detail about the practical steps a paint manufacturer will go through to remove leaded ingredients and their feasibility, and present voluntary third-party certification as a tool for manufacturers to promote their lead safe paints,
• Session IV - Establishing National Working Groups to Eliminate Lead Paint – will describe the strategy of establishing national working groups and provide time for the group to discuss implementation and next steps. The discussions will be summarized and final outcomes drafted in the final session.