The International Lead Poisoning Prevention Week of Action will this year take place on 23-29 October, with a focus on preventing lead in paint.

Despite being easily preventable, lead exposure was estimated to account for 853 000 deaths in 2013 and poisoning from the metal can have lifelong health impacts on children - including reduced IQ, learning disabilities, hypertension and seizures.

Economic losses due to lead exposure meanwhile affect lower and middle income countries disproportionately - amounting to $699.9 billion in Asia, compared to $55 billion in Europe.

The prevention week will therefore see actions take place worldwide to raise awareness on the topic, highlight existing efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning and seek to stimulate new ones.

Earlier this year, UN Environment organized regional workshop for Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia helping countries to stamp out lead in paint. Globally, 65 governments report to not have legally-binding laws on the topic, while information is lacking for a further 71 states.

For more information on the week and in order to access campaign materials in all UN languages for your own event, please click here. For further details please contact noleadinpaint@unep.org.

Littoral countries to the Caspian Sea are to meet in Geneva from 7-10 November to boost cooperation for the world's largest inland body of water and its environment.

Representatives from Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Turkmenistan will meet to prepare for the sixth Conference of the Parties due to take place in 2017.

Institutional arrangements will be reviewed for the Convention’s permanent Secretariat to be established in the region on a rotational basis.

Countries and experts will also review steps for ensuring that the Aktau Protocol - on the prevention and response to oil spills - becomes a reality on the ground. The Protocol entered into force on 25 July this year and requires countries to assist one another in the event of oil spill incidents and coordinate on contingency plans.

For more information please write to mateusz.benko@unep.org.