This document has been developed as part of a project to accelerate progress towards the establishment of legally binding controls on the manufacture, sale, distribution, import and use of lead paint in countries, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) and executed by the Secretariat of the Strategic Approach to International Chemicals Management (SAICM). It is a contribution to the work of the Global Alliance to Eliminate Lead Paint (the Lead Paint Alliance). The Lead Paint Alliance is a voluntary collaborative initiative, jointly led by United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), that is working towards the global phase-out of paints containing lead in order to prevent children’s exposure and to minimize occupational exposure to lead from paint.

 

The purpose of the document is to provide guidance and tools to support advocacy or awareness-raising activities to build momentum in the country toward the development, adoption and implementation of legally binding measures, such as laws, regulations, standards and decrees (for brevity referred to as “lead paint laws”). The document builds upon the experience of the Lead Paint Alliance in its annual International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week campaign. It also draws upon communication guidance developed by WHO.