This report highlights 2009 NIGH's activities - on behalf of those more than 20,000 nurses and others who have signed the Nightingale Declaration from 110 nations, also indicating their support for proposed UN Resolutions declaring the Year 2010 as the International Year of the Nurse - and 2011-2020 as a UN Decade for a Healthy World.
Following NIGH's Journey to Propose UN Resolutions in 2009
Report from the United Nations by Deva-Marie Beck, PhD, RN, NIGH International Co-Director
November 4, 2009
Background (2003-2008) A Year for Global Health
The proposed UN Resolutions are based on five years of consultations, discussions and meetings, from 2003-2008, with nurses and health groups in Africa, Asia, Europe, South America, the Middle East and India. Consultations were also held at the UN in New York and the UN Economic and Social Council and the World Health Organization [WHO] in Geneva.
2009: Campaign for Action
2009 has become highly significant for global health around the world. The 'Global Health' theme has become a significant issue for United Nations' consideration.
2009 is the first time in 60 years to bring the entire UN family of Agencies and Organizations - as well as Ministers and Delegations from all UN Member States - into full collaboration to address global health commitments. Specifically, this occurred through meetings of the UN's 2009 Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
In July, ECOSOC adopted a unanimous Ministerial Declaration, representing a major "sea change" in the way health is understood and promoted - across ALL sectors - at global and national policy levels. Download a pdf version of the Ministerial Declaration.
NIGH's Preparation & Attendance at 2009 UN ECOSOC
NIGH made significant contributions to the preparatory meetings and global dialogue leading up to the 2009 ECOSOC sessions.
See: http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/moving-health-to-first-place/campaign-documents/
Scroll down to view: "NIGH Acts to Establish Global Strategies."
In Geneva, Deva Marie Beck, NIGH International Co-Director, and Wayne Kines, NIGH Director of Global Communications, held discussions with NIGH Board Member, Cyril Ritchie who has been actively involved with global participation in ECOSOC - as the First Vice-President of the Congress of NGOs in Consultation with the United Nations [CoNGO]. Following these discussion Wayne Kines and Deva Marie Beck attended the April 2009 CoNGO ECOSOC planning meeting in Geneva.
Subsequently, CoNGO's first 2009 Civil Society Development Forum - CSDF Geneva Component - was convened between 2 to 4 July, 2009 at the headquarters of the International Labour Organization in Geneva.
This was scheduled to meet back-to-back with ECOSOC's "High-Level Segment" - 6 - 9 July 2009. Cyril Ritchie took part in planning the Forum. Deva Marie Beck was a panellist for a workshop entitled "Dealing with the Shortage of Health Care Workers."
In her remarks, Dr Beck sought to bring - on behalf of 20,000 nurses and concerned citizens from 110 nations - NIGH's recommendations for proposed UN General Assembly Resolutions - and particularly for the "2010 International Year of the Nurse." She cited ways in which this proposed Resolution - by honouring and encouraging the nursing profession - would positively address the "shortage".
In a parallel workshop - entitled "Responding to Health Inequities at Local and International Levels" - Wayne Kines focused on the value and global relevance of NIGH's proposals. Following these interventions, the NIGH team met with Mr. Nikhil Seth, Director of the Office for ECOSOC Support at UN Headquarters in NYC, who coordinates the continuing 2009 ECOSOC process.
In his closing remarks to the Civil Society Forum, Nikhil Seth noted the history-making nature of the ECOSOC 2009 process - and the growing worldwide interest and multi-sectoral cooperation focused on Global Health as this year's topic. He also announced, for the first time, that a special United Nations Summit on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will be convened at UN/HQ in New York during the 2nd week of September 2010. Mr. Seth encouraged the active participation of NGOs in this MDG Summit.
Next, NIGH representatives attended the ECOSOC "High Level Segment" as observers. Opening remarks were made by UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon and WHO DG Margaret Chan, as well as Princess Muna al-Hussein of Jordan.
The ECOSOC meeting framed 'Health' as a critical investment in the global ecology and the global economy. The President of ECOSOC - Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, of Luxembourg - called for 'Health' to be at the core of all sustainable development and noted that all UN Millennium Development Goals were indeed determinants of health.
Dr. Margaret Chan - also spoke with incisive eloquence about the priority of health goals over other global concerns. In her ECOSOC keynote address, entitled, "Focus on Health is the Key to the Welfare of Humanity", Dr. Chan concluded: "We are now hearing calls, from multiple world leaders, for transformational changes in the policies that govern the way the world works. The international systems need to be re-engineered to incorporate a moral dimension. They need to be transformed by policies that respond to the concerns and values of society."
Related Meetings, Questions & Concerns
During this meeting, the NIGH team met with several members of diplomatic 'Missions' to the United Nations in Geneva to put forward their concerns and questions. What should happen next in furthering this 'common cause' of global health?
NIGH was concerned that UN declarations and resolutions could grow into fanfare, without meaningful action. Even the unanimous 'Ministerial Declaration' to "Implement the Internationally Agreed Goals and Commitments in Regard to Global Public Health" could result in a lack of commitment to action.
When the Delegations of the 192 UN Member States come to the UN General Assembly in New York each Autumn, they are already committed to a full agenda. Each year, ECOSOC's "High Level" conference is intended to prepare and influence UN General Assembly debate and to cause decisive action. But the world's conflicts take priority for the UN/GA, often urgently demanding time and effort to resolve. This year, the effects of the global economic recession have precedence, along with discussions preparatory to the United Nations Climate Change Conference Copenhagen 2009 in December. These require attention from the Assembly and from related NGOs and the media. All of these issues are competing for time, attention and focus.
Do the Proposed UN Resolutions of NIGH Continue?
If So, How Do We Build on What We Have Learned?
Strengthening a Worldwide Public Awareness Campaign for Global Health
In discussions with representatives from several UN Delegations in Geneva, the NIGH team were informed that terms, such as, "UN Year" and "UN Decade" have been over-used and under-served. NIGH's proposed UN Resolutions, as originally drafted, were unlikely to receive unanimous support - as they were originally written - because of this.
The NIGH team were also strongly urged by several UN Delegations to proceed in open discussion - and active participation at formal and informal meetings of the United Nations in New York during the 2009 UN General Assembly and to accomplish something even stronger and more comprehensive.
Of common concern - to those we have met in the UN, in Member States governments and civil society organizations - is the prevailing lack of public awareness and the related political will to press for global and national commitments. Some ambassadors were anxious to discuss HOW a global public awareness strategy could be developed NOW to focus on these issues - so that the momentum - gathering around the unanimous 'Ministerial Declaration' of UN/ECOSOC in 2009 - could actually be sustained, strengthened and projected into ongoing, collaborative action to achieve a healthy world community.
NIGH was urged to continue our overall mandate to raise global awareness and heighten the universal priority of human health - encouraging and empowering nurses and concerned citizens everywhere to participate creatively and actively to mobilize public opinion.
Some government officials had heard and were keen to talk us about the Nightingale "Campaign for a Healthy World'. Others were impressed, especially by these global nursing efforts to honour Florence Nightingale's legacy and to promote and project her relevance for the 21st century. Everyone indicated willingness to continue discussion and further planning. Those who urged the NIGH team to actively proceed with a global public awareness campaign, emphasized that we should develop full public awareness support for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as well as for WHO's Primary Health campaign and for the WHO Commission Report on the 'Social Determinants of Health.'
Creating an Overarching UN Resolution to "Mobilize Public Opinion for the Health of Nations"
Based on new findings, NIGH focused on crafting a new overarching UN Resolution proposal to reflect what seems needed now - to maintain momentum for 2009's UN "global health" theme.
Download in pdf format Draft UNGA resolution submitted by NIGH.
The text of this proposed Resolution accomplishes several points:
1) Instead of "UN Year" and "UN Decade," this text reflects NIGH's original overarching mandate to increase public awareness about the critical importance of global health - to everyone.
2) The text addressed many stakeholders - at all levels of concern - from individuals at grassroots levels - through the national level of all UN Member States' governments - to the global UN family of international organizations.
3) The text encourages confluence between NGOs working on environmental and personal health. To this, the draft Resolution is subtitled: "Healthy People on a Healthy Planet by 2020."
4) To re-focus on NIGH's earlier proposal for a UN Decade for a Healthy World by 2020, all of the language of this new Resolution is crafted towards building a strong foundation to further this effort - across 2010, and throughout the decade and beyond. The General Assembly's further adoption in 2010 - of targets to be achieved with an official 'Plan of Action for the Decade to 2020' - is a viable option that would serve the world and NIGH's original intentions well.
October/November - New York City - Proposing Resolutions at the UN
We began this part of our journey in mid-October, contributing to CoNGO's second 2009 Civil Society Development Forum - CSDF New York Component - in collaboration with ECOSOC, at UN / HQ. This meeting was attended by many NGOs - some of whom had been, like NIGH, in the above 'Geneva Component' in July. Others, based in New York City, also participated.
At this meeting, we were all encouraged to bring forward suggestions - from the worldwide civil society community - to the United Nations at this General Assembly. And, we were invited to make recommendations specific to the 2009 ECOSOC "global health" theme. To this invitation, NIGH actively brought our overarching proposed Resolution and it was welcomed. Several international NGOs offered to help us move this forward in their own nations and regions. At the end of this meeting, our proposed draft Resolution was fully accepted and included in the official document being transmitted to the United Nations General Assembly through CoNGO's ECOSOC Consultative Status.
See: http://www.nightingaledeclaration.net/news/un-congo-health/
In addition, to being well-received by NGOs offering to collaborate in our efforts, one international group headquartered in Europe - OSMTH - agreed to support our draft Resolution by providing other language versions. This is currently available for download in English,
French,
Portuguese,
Bulgarian. More language versions are available.
The following week-end of October, NIGH 's Dr. Barbara Dossey, International Co-Director, Eleanor Kibrick NIGH's Director of Programs and Deva Marie Beck, collaborated with Susan Luck, of the Earthrose Institute - and other nursing colleagues based in New York City - to convene a "Nurturing the Nurse" Forum for nearly 100 nurses in the region. The Forum considered the new Resolution draft and overwhelmingly encouraged us to promote its adoption at the UN - on behalf of nurses and all stakeholders who are already working to see a healthy world achieved by 2020.
So far in November 2009, NIGH has distributed this proposal to Ambassadors at every Permanent Mission of the 192 UN Member States. Initial responses to this proposal indicate that it - or something similar - could well be considered for further follow, next year, by ECOSOC, in July and September, at the UN in New York City. This is very encouraging news which we will be carefully following in 2010.
Acknowledging the Nurses for their 2010 Commitment to UN MDGs
Meanwhile, NIGH has decided to continue our efforts - in 2009 - on furthering one timely component of this proposal -
"a public media campaign being prepared by the world community of nurses to celebrate 2010 as the "International Year of the Nurse"
with an active programme of advocacy for the UN MDGs."
We have put forward a proposal to 192 UN Ambassadors in New York:
"to consider - now - supporting a Resolution for this 2009 UN General Assembly:
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to acknowledge with gratitude, the devotion and dedication of the world's nurses and midwives and their care and concern for the health and well-being of the peoples of the United Nations
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to encourage their campaign to raise global public awareness and support for the eight UN Millennium Development Goals, during their celebration of the 2010 International Year of the Nurse and the Centennial of Florence Nightingale
- to recognize, in particular, the vital worldwide contribution of nurses and midwives in "reducing child mortality and improving maternal health" - as specified in MDGs 4 and 5 - and to express appreciation for their overall commitment to the achievement of these United Nations' objectives."
In the time remaining us - during this 2009 UN General Assembly in New York - we will be further following on this request by asking our nursing colleagues, worldwide, to pro-actively join us in this request.
Thank you for your interest in the development of NIGH's Global Campaign for a Healthy World. It is a continuing privilege and an adventure to be representing nurses of the world - and everyone who is working to achieve a healthy world - in this way.
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