Updated 14 July 2009
On 6 to 9 July 2009, The World Federation delegation comprising of the Assistant Secretary General for Health, Dr. Munir M. Datoo and NGO manager, Imran Janmohamed, visited the United Nations (UN) Office in Geneva to attend the High Level Segment of the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review (AMR). This year’s Review was held at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland and focused on "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health". The session also examined the impact of the financial and economic crisis on public health.
The United Nation’s Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Review coordinates the work related to economic and social development on the internationally agreed development goals. The Review is not a four-day event but is, rather, a process which includes preparations and follow-up at the national, regional and global levels towards the achievements of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The ECOSOC 2009 substantive session is scheduled to run from 6 - 31 July 2009, however, the High Level Segment (HLS) ran from 6 – 9 July 2009.
KEY ADDRESSES
The opening of the four day High Level Segment (HLS) began with addresses from the President of the Economic and Social Council, Sylvie Lucas and Secretary-General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-moon. The two speakers echoed the importance of health as a foundation for peace and prosperity emphasising that need to involve multiple stakeholders to strengthen healthcare systems by creating strong partnerships with civil societies, faith based groups, community leaders and private sector. The President of the Swiss Confederation, Hans-Rudolf Merz welcomed the national delegations to Switzerland and stressed the importance of achieving the health outcomes from the MDGs The HLS was attended by many high-level ministerial delegates from many countries across the globe.
The opening day had other speeches from several high profile speakers such as Urmas Paet, the Foreign Minister of Estonia, Nicolas Schmit, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg, Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan, Margaret Chan, the Director General of the World Health Organisation, Michael Marmot, Chair of the Commission on Social Determinants of Health, Cherie Blair from the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Sarah Omega Kidangas, a Kenyan maternal health advocate and other Health Ministers from Ghana, Jamaica, Qatar, China and Sri Lanka.
KEY PRESENTATIONS
The HLS sessions for next two days concentrated on National Presentations which focussed on the successes and limitations of the achievements of the health initiatives of the MDGs from Bolivia, Japan, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mali, Sri Lanka and Sudan. During the main events, there were several important side events running in parallel which were attended by The World Federation delegation. The delegation contributed to these discussions ensuring that its global expertise on public health was made aware to the audiences.
On Thursday 9 July, The World Federation was also invited to attend the Ministerial Breakfast on “migration and health-related MDGs”, where Ministers where informed of The World Federation’s commitment to the MDGs, gender empowerment, and migrant nature of its membership and some of its adverse health-related outcomes.
The final day of the HLS followed with two thematic roundtable meetings and general debates, closing with an adoption of the Ministerial Declaration.
The World Federation also submitted a statement to the ECOSOC AMR on its contrition to the public health initiatives, prior to the attendance of the Review. It also submitted a best practice article on the UN-NGO-IRENE Civil Society Best Practices Network on its unique achievements on the health awareness drive in Bihar, India in January 2007.
Dr Munir M. Datoo, said: “Attending this event was a real eye opener. I hope that we can continue our quest to work closely with our regional bodies as well as our partnering agents, as without this close cooperation we will not be able to achieve the greater goal of serving humanity at large. We need to think outside the box not only for the betterment of our community, but for humanity in general.”
Imran Janmohamed, NGO Manager, said: This was an excellent opportunity to meet with various other NGOs, civil society groups, private sector, and high-level decision makers who shape global policies on international development goals. With our regional coordinators, our attendance to such meetings will bring further opportunities to enhance our services for the community and humanity.”
A full report of on delegate’s participation of the High Level Segment will be provided in upcoming newswires.