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UNECE to take part in the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, 10-12 March, Parma

UNECE to take part in the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health, 10-12 March, Parma

Geneva
Ján Kubiš, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), will take part in the Fifth Ministerial Conference on Environment and Health to be held on 10-12 March 2010 in Parma (Italy). Some 800 participants, including high-level government officials, non-governmental organizations, and representatives of youth, business community and academic institutions are expected in Parma.
The conference, organized by WHO/Europe, is the next milestone in the European environment and health process, now in its twentieth year. Under the motto, “Protecting children's health in a changing environment”, the conference will drive Europe's agenda in defining policies to safeguard health by improving environmental quality. The Ministers are expected to debate challenges encountered in implementing the previous commitments, adopt a Declaration and its operational part - the Commitment to Act - and decide on the future of the process for the years to come.
Debates will focus on three main priority areas:
For additional information on the conference, please visit:  http://www.euro.who.int/parma2010
Ms. Christina von Schweinichen


Note to editors
In the late 1980s, European countries initiated the first ever process to eliminate the most significant environmental threats to human health. Progress towards this goal is driven by a series of ministerial conferences held every five years and coordinated by WHO/Europe.
The series of ministerial conferences on environment and health aim at bringing together environment and health sectors to shape European policies and actions. The first conference was held in Frankfurt in 1989, followed by Helsinki in 1994, London in 1999 and Budapest in 2004. The Fourth Ministerial Conference focused on the measures that countries can take to address the impacts of environmental risk factors on children’s health, and it adopted the Children’s Environment and Health Action Plan for Europe (CEHAPE) to help protect future generations. An intergovernmental mid-term review in 2007 in Vienna noted progress on the Budapest commitments and identified the priorities for the Fifth Ministerial Conference.
UNECE has traditionally been a strategic “environment” partner of WHO/Europe in this process and a member of the European Environment and Health Committee (EEHC), a preparatory body that oversees coordination and follow-up of the outcomes of the process in the European Region. 
Over the years, UNECE and WHO/Europe joined forces and the clearest successes are two unique instruments: the Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme, also known as THE PEP, and the Protocol on Water and Health to the UNECE Convention on the Protection and Use of Transboundary Watercourses and International Lakes. THE PEP and the Protocol are both serviced by joint secretariats provided by UNECE and WHO/Europe. The former is known for its result-oriented focus on priorities and action taken to promote sustainable transport choices for our health, environment and prosperity. The latter is a legally binding treaty that provides for structured national cooperation between the environment and health sectors to achieve two common goals: reducing water-related diseases and ensuring the sustainability of water resources. Other areas of cooperation between the two organisations include the Protocol on Strategic Environmental Assessment, which states that environmental and public health considerations are important in preparing programmes, policies and legislation and the Convention on the Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, where UNECE and WHO have worked together to explore the effects of air pollution on health.
Ref: ECE/ENV/10/P04

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