UNITED NATIONS	HS
	Commission on Human Settlements	Distr. LIMITED HS/C/17/L.9/Rev.1 14 May 1999 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH

The Commission on Human Settlements,

Aware that the harmful effects of lead on human health and the environment have been long been understood, that lead poisoning can result in impaired growth, arrested development, mental retardation and other developmental and neurological disorders, and that lead poisoning most severely affects and impairs children,

Convinced that Governments can best proceed by developing comprehensive lead-poisoning-prevention programmes which include raising awareness, identifying populations affected by lead poisoning, controlling and, where possible, eliminating sources of exposure,

Mindful that, because the causes of lead poisoning from petrol are known and preventive measures exist, the global elimination of such poisoning is an achievable goal, which would serve a precedent-setting success story in international cooperation to advance the commitments of the Habitat Agenda, 1/

Recalling that, in the Habitat Agenda, 2/ all countries committed themselves to the elimination of lead in petrol as soon as possible,

1. Calls upon all Governments to incorporate, in accordance with their development strategies, into their national policies and plans of action developed for Habitat II a strategy to phase out leaded petrol and to manage the uncontrolled exposure to lead from other sources or, where possible, eliminate it. The action plans should, if possible, identify laws, regulations, policies and actions designed to accomplish this strategy, and benchmarks of progress;

2. Requests Governments to provide comprehensive information on their progress in eliminating the use of lead in petrol and managing the uncontrolled exposure to lead from other sources, in a transparent, publicly accessible and understandable form, at the General Assembly at its special session for an overall review and appraisal of the implementation of the Habitat Agenda;

3. Invites the United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (Habitat), the United Nations Environment Programme and other international organizations to work jointly on issues related to the elimination of lead;

4. Urges the international community, including the United Nations system and relevant international organizations, to facilitate the provision of technical and financial assistance to developing countries and countries with economies in transition to assist them in their activities in this regard.

2/    Ibid., para 43 (bb).

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