US non-profit organsiation Pure Earth, Clarios Foundation and UNICEF have begun a three-year partnership to prevent children being exposed to lead from informal smelting operations.
The organisations will work together as founding partners of the Protecting Every Child’s Potential (PECP) initiative, which aims to mobilise international action to prevent lead contamination.
Bangladesh, Georgia, Ghana and Indonesia are the first countries collaborating with the partners to implement PECP projects.
The initiative plans to work with local and national governments, businesses, United Nations entities, academia and civil society in a multi-stakeholder approach to share best practices and model policies.
The PECP partners are calling on others to partner with them in addressing the emerging health crisis caused by lead exposure.
As many as 800 million children globally have blood lead levels that indicate a degree of lead poisoning. Lead poisoning damages the brains of babies and children under the age of five before they have had the opportunity to fully develop. This leads to lifelong neurological, cognitive and physical impairment.
One of the biggest causes of lead exposure is the informal, illegal and unsafe recycling of lead-acid batteries.
