In collaboration with a worldwide team, the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) is focusing on the adoption of three proposed United Nations Resolutions.
Your Actions Can Move Health to First Place
If you want to take action globally, as well as locally, to bring about a healthy world community, consider joining in the global campaign to convince national and world leaders that health should have the top place on their agenda.
In the weeks and months ahead - throughout 2009 - you will have the opportunity to actively participate - with NIGH and its worldwide team - in collaboration to strengthen this catalytic call to achieve a healthy world by 2020.
A global strategy with many local and national initiatives is already underway.
A broader definition of "Health" is becoming - in the first decade of the 21st century - a merging force of many streams of human endeavor. This provides an opportunity for multi-disciplinary collaboration on a global scale - at individual, local, national and international levels.
'Good health' comes from many interconnected social factors - cultural, economic and environmental, as well as the personal physical, emotional, mental and spiritual dimensions of life.
Of the eight United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) three - child health, maternal health and combating HIV /AIDS, Malaria and other diseases - are directly related to health. Yet, the other five MDGs - ending poverty and hunger, universal education, environmental sustainability and global partnership - are all specific positive determinants of health and well-being. The timeline for achieving these eight MDGs is by 2015. [http://www.UN.org]
Thus, a catalytic global call is being activated to dedicate a full decade towards establishing "Health" - in its broadest definition - as a global common cause and shared responsibility of all humanity. [The first half of this decade would focus the world on the UN MDGs. The second half would focus on further commitments.] This call has been initiated - at the grassroots - by more than 19,000 individual "nurses and concerned citizens" from 87 UN Member States. Many of these represent organizations with millions of constituents, worldwide.
In collaboration with a worldwide team, the Nightingale Initiative for Global Health (NIGH) is focusing - throughout 2009 - on the adoption of three proposed United Nations Resolutions outlined in these interrelated steps:
- Mobilization of Public Opinion Towards a Healthy World by 2020
- Endorsement of the International Year of the Nurse, 2010, a "Celebration of Commitment to Creating a Healthy World"
- Establishment of a United Nations Decade for a Healthy World, 2011-2020
First: Mobilizing Public Opinion Towards a Healthy World by 2020
This strategy is modelled on the United Nations General Assembly Resolution "On the Mobilization of Public Opinion", which was passed unanimously on 13 December, 1969. This UN GA Resolution endorsed the full use of global "mass-media... unprecedented in approach, scope, diversity and initiative" to encourage "full global understanding of the relevance, complexity and urgency... of the problems and processes of development."
Based on the success of this global public awareness effort, the UN General Assembly further unanimously adopted the "Development Decade" in 1970. Further, in 1972, at the UN Summit for the Human Environment convened in Stockholm, the UN agreed, again, unanimously, to act on the environmental implications of development and has since adopted the Earth Charter to proclaim dedicating themselves and a wide swath of civil society, to goals that would improve life for everyone on the planet.
Now is the time to apply this same global strategy for health - starting with a proposed UN General Assembly Resolution to Mobilize Public Opinion for a Healthy World by 2020.
Related documents to Download and Share with your Networks:
PRELIMINARY DRAFT FOR THE UN/GA 2009:
Mobilization of Public Opinion toward a Healthy World by 2020
Second: Endorsing the International Year of the Nurse, 2010: A "Celebration of Commitment to Creating a Healthy World"
A year-long public awareness of 2010 as the International Year of the Nurse is being planned - by nursing groups around the world - with a united "Celebration of Commitment to Creating a Healthy World." The year 2010 is dedicated as the Centennial of Florence Nightingale (1820-2020)
In remembrance of Nightingale and the global nursing legacy established from her work, the 2010IYNurse will actively involve the world's nurses - estimated at more than 15 million - in celebrating their profession and renewing their commitment to bring health to their communities, locally, nationally and worldwide. The International Year of the Nurse, 2010, is a collaborative grassroots global initiative honouring nursing's voices, values and wisdom. The 2010 IYNurse is also being created as the launching year for the UN Decade for A Healthy World, 2011-2020.
Related documents to Download and Share with your Networks:
Introducing the 2010 International Year of the Nurse
A six-page overview of this proposal
PRELIMINARY DRAFT FOR THE UN/GA 2009:
International Year of the Nurse, 2010 (English)
International Year of the Nurse, 2010 (Spanish)
Third: Establishing a United Nations Decade for a Healthy World, 2011-2020
UNICEF's State of the World's Children 2009 notes, "in parallel with the 2008 G8 Summit, a G8 Health Experts Group was established.... pledging to take comprehensive action to address the health-related Millennium Development Goals.... emphasizing the need for a longer-term perspective that extends beyond the 2015 MDG deadline, and the imperative of mobilizing a wide range of stakeholders." [http://www.unicef.org/sowc09/]
A universal plan of action for 2011 to 2020 - to achieve a healthy world - will enable the world community to reshape and reform the a global system around the life-affirming values - held in common - by all societies, regardless of creed or culture.
An active program for 2011 to 2020 - as the United Nations Decade for a Healthy World - will establish a longer-term framework for all sectors of society and all levels of humanity - to cooperate, worldwide, in common concern and shared commitment. The year 2020 will be as the Bicentennial of Florence Nightingale (1820-2020).
Related documents to Download and Share with your Networks:
Introducing the UN Decade for a Health World, 2011-2020 -- download 12-page pdf.
UN Decade for a Healthy World, 2011-2020 (English) The draft of the proposed UN Decade Resolution.
UN Decade for a Healthy World, 2011-2020 (Spanish)
*Spanish Translation Credits: Zuzanka Kutena, PhD, Margarita Ruiz Severinghaus, RN, MSN and Jeanette Fadul.
More Timely Than Ever Before
This three-point strategy is very timely.
In November, 2008, the WHO Commission on the Social Determinants of Health released its Final Report. [http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/global/socialinjustice/ ]. It is essential "that governments, civil society, WHO, and other global organizations come together in taking action to improve the lives of the world's citizens. Achieving health equity within a generation is achievable, it is the right thing to do, and now is the right time to do it."
In response - and in preparation for the 2009 Agenda of the United Nations General Assembly - the 2009 UN Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC) Theme is: "Implementing the internationally agreed goals and commitments in regard to global public health." [http://www.un.org/ecosoc/newfunct/amr2009.shtml ]
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon recently said, "I am determined to push... global health as one of my key priorities... not only because global health is an enormous challenge, but because we can do something about it. New actors and resources are pouring into the global health space as never before.... But this won't amount to much if we don't ensure coherent and decisive action." [http://www.un.org/apps/sg/offthecuff.asp?nid=1157 ]
NIGH Acts to Establish These Global Strategies
In the first two months of 2009, the NIGH team has focused - in keeping with this Theme - on accomplishing these strategic action steps:
- Correspondence with 34 Members of the World Health Organization Executive Board who met in Geneva in January, 2009.
- Correspondence with contacts within the 10 nations invited to bring special input to the UN ECOSOC Advance Ministerial Review for the World Health Assembly in May, 2009.
- Participation in a moderated e-Discussion on Global Public Health was jointly organized by the United Nations Department for Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) and UNDP. It was convened from 29 January to 26 February 2009 as part of the preparatory process for the UN ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review (AMR). This process contributes to further sessions, to be convened in June and July 2009, which will establish the Agenda of the UN General Assembly meeting in New York City - September through December, 2009.
Members of NIGH's team contributed three Editorials which have been published in the e-Discussion on Global Public Health. These can be downloaded here:
for e-Group Discussion Part 1: On Strengthening Health Systems
A: GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION OF PUBLIC OPINION FOR TWO KEY UN RESOLUTIONS
for e-Group Discussion Part 2: On Emerging and Future Health Challenges
B: GLOBAL MOBILIZATION-CIVIL SOCIETY ACTION-INDIVIDUAL PARTICIPATION-NATIONAL IMPLEMENTATION
C: MAKING HEALTH A TOP PRIORITY: A COMMITMENT FROM ALL OF US IS NEEDED TO CONVINCE THE REST OF US
The entire e-Discussion on Global Public Health can be downloaded here:
[http://www.un.org/ecosoc/newfunct/amredis2009.shtml]
Working Together for the Common Good
To have healthy peoples on a global scale involves teamwork worldwide. It requires developing many interlinked factors of individual and community well-being - equity, justice, collaboration, understanding, appreciation and respect, not just the absence of disease. This wider concept of "Health" is becoming a rallying point for all levels of society to work together for the common good.
Dr. Margaret Chan, World Health Organization Director General, sees "health as the driver" of all sustainable development, including economic, social and cultural advances. Humanity's health can no longer be addressed by Health Ministers alone. "They need help!" - she notes - from all sectors of society as well as from ordinary citizens themselves. Active investment in Health must now be seen as the strategic investment in overall human progress.
http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/global/wha/
[http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/news/peoplesdaily/
http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/global/pbsnews/]
Health is fundamental to our well-being. In every sphere of life activities, Health must be given priority for action - personally, locally and globally. Health is global 'common ground' - a universal desire felt by 6.7 billion people on Earth. Each of us aspires to have and keep 'good health' and to sustain the health of our family and our community. Now is the time for each of us to act on this vision and to make this goal a reality.
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