Protecting children from exposure to harmful chemicals to avoid irreversible damage. With this motto, we organised the Side Event “Let’s Ensure a Healthy Future” at the WHO Sixth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health.

Side event on children’s health

A greater understanding of life cycle health costs, risks, and costs of inaction is urgently needed in terms of children’s exposure to harmful chemicals. That’s why we invited participants to share experiences children’s environmental health risks during a side event discussing various sources of exposure and best practices for moving forward.

Environmental Health Costs and Risks

Concrete good practices were shown from projects on non-chemical alternatives and chemicals, water protection and circular economy policies from Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Georgia and Moldova. An evolving understanding of the health costs and risks, the costs of inaction and good examples is urgently needed. Examples of this are alternatives to chrysotile Asbestos, Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs), Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), heavy metals and water-related pollution.

The side event was organised by our network of partners from across the WHO-Euro region, in collaboration with HEAL, IPEN and the German Environment Agency UBA. Other invited participants to share experiences from Republic of Moldova, Denmark, Sweden, France and the Netherlands.

Speakers were

• Maria Krautzberger, President, German Federal Agency of Environment (UBA)
• Marietta Khurshudyan, Armenian Women for Health and a Healthy Environment, Armenia
• Miroslava Jopkova, ARNICA, Czech Republic
• Olga Ponizova, ECO Accord, Russia
• Caroline Paul, Ministry of Health, France
• Sascha Gabizon, WECF International
• Dr. Michaela Vasilescu, Bucharest University, Romania
• Dr. Claudia Wendland, WECF Germany
• Natasa Dokovska, Journalists for Human Rights, FYR Macedonia

The event was moderated by our Dr. Claudia Wendland and Sascha Gabizon. Brigitte Dessing from the Dutch Ministry of Environment (MinIenM), Programme Health and Environment, acted as respondent.

Download the presentations

• WECF – Parma declaration (Dr. Claudia Wendland)
• Armenian Women for Health and Healthy Environment (Marietta Khurshudyan)
• Menstrual Hygiene Management in Macedonia (Natasha Dokovska Spirovska)
• The recycling of brominated flame retardants contaminates children’s toys (Miroslava Jopkova)
• Towards a Healthy School Environment – Sanitation in Rural Schools (Dr. Claudia Wendland)
• Water and Sanitation Safety Planning Approach and the WECF Compendium (Mihaela Vasilescu)
• Lead in paint (Olga Ponizova, Olga Speranskaya)
• Response from the Ministry of infrastructure and Environment of the Netherlands (Brigitte Dessing)

More information on our activities at the conference can be found on our WECF in Ostrava page.