Studiorum’s Representative Participated at the WHO Regional Committee Meeting

63^rd Regional Committee of WHO Europe, September 16-19, 2013 in Izmir Turkey

The 63^rd Regional Committee took place in Izmir, Turkey and was attended by delegations of the 51 Member States, representatives of UN agencies, a number NGOs in official relations with WHO, and experts and observers that took interest in the meeting. Besides the regular agenda topics, the progress on the Health 2020 Policy Framework was presented, accompanied by the presentation and adoption of the 20 Core Indicators for Health 2020 implementation, which opens the possibility for the more active involvement of the civil society in monitoring of the progress in the health and wellbeing of citizens and communities in the European region.

Ms. Neda Milevska Kostova, Executive director of Studiorum, attended the meeting on behalf of International Alliance of Patients’ Organizations (IAPO), to which Studiorum is a member organization, together with Ms. Jolanta Bilinska, IAPO Secretary.

Two written statements were presented on behalf of IAPO, that were distributed to all delegates, and intervening on the agenda items that were related to the non-communicable diseases and on the universal health coverage. The two statements are posted on and can be downloaded from the WHO Regional Committee webpage.

In her address, the Regional Director Zsuzsanna Jakab has stated that significant progress has been made in addressing health inequities, but that further efforts are needed, for which the support of the governments is crucial, as is the involvement and engagement of the whole society.

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Regional Director Zsuzsanna Jakab met with NGOs during 63^rd Regional Committee

WHO will continue its efforts to involve the NGOs in the dialogue and to increase the visibility of their participation

On the third day of the Regional Committee, the Regional Director had meeting with the representatives of the NGOs in official relations with WHO, in which the modalities for increasing the cooperation with civil society have been discussed. Mrs. Jolanta Bilinska, the IAPO Governance Board member has expressed the satisfaction of the increased cooperation with NGOs over the past few years, with the possibility to present written and video-recorded statements, but it was however agreed among the present that further expansion of modalities for cooperation are needed. Some of the proposed ways of increasing NGOs participation in the work of the Regional Committee and of WHO overall were: submitting joint statements by civil society organizations, establishing mailing lists and having side-events in which NGOs would be able to exchange views and establish partnerships towards common goals.
In the light of that, the first NGO joint statement was prepared and presented at the final day of 63^rd Regional Committee, stating that NGOs look forward to closer collaboration with WHO EURO Regional Office and the Member States both at regional and national levels, as the increased collaboration will result in better health outcomes in Europe.