ICN publishes report on its advocacy and influence at the 77th World Health Assembly, ahead of UN General Assembly

WHO
20 September 2024
PR 39

Ahead of next week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting, the International Council of Nurses (ICN) has published a report into its contributions at this year’s 77th World Health Assembly meeting (WHA77), which was held 27 May-1 June in Geneva, Switzerland. The key messages from the report will inform ICN’s contributions around the UNGA.

The theme of the WHA77 was All for Health, Health for All, reflecting global concerns about a lack of progress towards the goal of Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030.

The report, prepared by Erica Burton, ICN’s Senior Policy Advisor for nursing and health policy, provides details of all the interventions made by ICN, under its special status as a Non-State Actor at WHA meetings.

This year’s interventions put ICN on the record addressing many critical issues, including:

  • Universal Health Coverage
  • Maternal and child mortality
  • The Global Health and Peace Initiative
  • Climate change, pollution and health
  • Economics and health for all
  • The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body that is drafting a WHO agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.

Every year ICN sends a delegation to the WHA and as the size of this year’s delegation was limited to six, ICN invited additional delegates to join online, providing them with a pre-Assembly briefing, daily updates and access to ICN interventions. It is hoped that the size of ICN’s on-site delegation will be increased in future years.

In addition, ICN hosted its annual luncheon for all the nurses attending WHA77 in person and online, at which it welcomed representatives of National Nurses Associatinos and other dignitaries, including WHO Chief Nursing Officer Dr Amelia Tuipulotu, ministers of health, the International Labour Organisation and staff from BBC StoryWorks, who have begun work on the second series of the ICN Caring with Courage series.

Speaking after WHA77, ICN President Dr Pamela Cipriano said: “The World Health Assembly is one of ICN’s most important strategic policy events of the year. It gives us the opportunity to raise the voice of nurses around the world and ensure the involvement of nursing in all policies in which the role of nursing must be supported and strengthened.

‘This report captures our involvement at WHA77 and provides guidance about where and how efforts to advance health and health care should be focused and the most strategic ways to do so at all levels, using a multi-stakeholder approach.”

Ms Burton said: “This report shows the breadth of health issues on the WHA’s agenda that are of particular importance to the nursing profession. It can be used by nurses around the world, at all levels, to strategically guide their work in advancing health and wellbeing. Informed by ICN’s expert knowledge and developed around the current realities of nursing practice, the report can be used as a strategic document to support nursing policy development everywhere.”

The annual United Nations General Assembly begins on 22 September at its headquarters in New York, with global leaders gathering to address pressing international issues. The UN says its meeting and related events next week are crucial for addressing the “global polycrisis” and accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.