Sixty-first Regional Committee for Europe: Baku, 12–15 September 2011: draft resolution: a country strategy for the WHO Regional Office for Europe

W ORL D H EALT H O RG AN I Z AT IO N R EG I ON AL O F F I C E FO R EU R O PE Scherfigsvej 8, DK-2100 Copenhagen Ø, Denmark Telephone: +45 39 17 17 17 Fax: +45 39 17 18 18 E-mail: rc@euro.who.int Web: http://www.euro.who.int/en/who-we-are/governance Regional Committee for Europe EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./9 Sixty-first session Baku, Azerbaijan, 12–15 September 2011 15 July 2011 111436 ORIGINAL: ENGLISH Draft resolution A country strategy for the WHO Regional Office for Europe The Regional Committee, Mindful of the need to ensure close strategic relations with every Member State in the WHO European Region; Welcoming the initiative taken by the Regional Director to set up an external working group to review WHO’s work in countries and noting its report; Having reviewed the report on A country strategy for the WHO Regional Office for Europe;1 Recalling its previous resolutions on cooperation with countries through the EUROHEALTH programme (EUR/RC40/R7, EUR/RC41/R2 and EUR/RC43/R10), including its evaluation and updating (EUR/RC44/R10, EUR/RC45/R6), and later through the Regional Office’s country strategy “Matching services to new needs” (EUR/RC50/R5 and EUR/RC55/R8); 1. ENDORSES the new European country strategy as put forward by the Regional Director; 1 Document EUR/RC61/17 EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./9 page 2 2. AGREES that: (a) the Regional Office is to be relevant to every Member State in the diverse European Region and that the Regional Office will identify flexible and effective ways of working for, in and with all countries; (b) the structures, roles and responsibilities, mechanisms of working and staffing of the Regional Office should be set up in a way that it best supports Member States to ensure continued improvement of population health and reduce inequities; (c) governments should be encouraged to develop comprehensive, long-term intersectoral national health policies and plans to cope with ongoing and emerging challenges, ensuring a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, and should continuously strengthen their health systems and their public health functions; 3. REQUESTS the Regional Director to take a holistic approach to work for, with and in countries by: (a) supporting Member States in implementing the decisions taken by WHO’s governing bodies by providing technical assistance, building capacity, providing strategic advice to ministers of health and promoting policy coherence among health partners at country level; (b) strengthening the intercountry and multicountry dimensions of the Regional Office’s work, to ensure cross-country learning, development and sharing of new knowledge, tools and instruments by and for all Member States; (c) delivering work “in all countries” through various mechanisms that support countries in undertaking their strategic developments and tackling their most important challenges (this support may be provided from WHO’s regional head office in Copenhagen, from its geographically dispersed offices or from other networks or WHO collaborating centres, as well as through WHO’s country offices, as appropriate to best support governments in dealing with complex issues); (d) ensuring an institutional framework that enables the delivery of work with, for and in countries, by: (i) consolidating the strategic and technical areas of work in the Regional Office; EUR/RC61/Conf.Doc./9 page 3 (ii) supporting all types of WHO offices in countries and clearly defining the roles, responsibilities and staffing of each office, as well as the criteria by which to determine the type of country office required; (e) making best use of existing national resources and expertise to ensure a wider reach of technical assistance by establishing rosters of national experts, appointing national counterparts and technical focal points in all countries, and mapping out WHO collaborating centres as well as national institutes that can provide additional support to WHO’s work in countries and foster cross-country learning; 4. URGES Member States to collaborate in the further development and implementation of the new country strategy by: (a) adopting a participatory approach to this work; (b) establishing a mechanism in every country where there is no WHO office to ensure a regular dialogue and exchange of information between the Ministry of Health and the Regional Office for Europe; (c) taking a lead role in supporting other countries by sharing resources and information in areas where they have expertise, under the direction of the Regional Office for Europe; (d) making best use of existing networks and various “healthy setting” initiatives to ensure intercountry work in the WHO European Region; (e) actively engaging with all partners in health professional associations, patients and relevant stakeholders in work at national level; 5. REQUESTS the Regional Director to report back to the Regional Committee at its sixty- fourth session on the progress made in working with countries in the European Region.