Global Health and Foreign Policy

A/RES/66/115No PDF available

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the General Assembly, under agenda item 126Global health and foreign policy, published in 2012.

What other versions does this mandate have?

7 versions · 2009–2015

This is an older version — the most recent is A/RES/69/132

2015A/RES/69/132Global health and foreign policyLatestCompare with previous version
2014A/RES/68/98Global health and foreign policyCompare with previous version
2013A/RES/67/81Global health and foreign policyCompare with previous version
2012A/RES/66/115Global health and foreign policyCompare with previous version
2011A/RES/65/95Global health and foreign policyCompare with previous version

Versions are identified automatically by matching titles within the same organ (~97% accuracy on a manual audit).

What subjects does this mandate have?

12 topics

Coordination Within UN System Data Collection Disaster Preparedness Environmental Policy Foreign Policy Health Policy Health Services International Cooperation International Health Regulations Natural Disasters Social Aspects Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

33 operative paragraphs

Notes with appreciation the note by the Secretary-General transmitting the report of the Director-General of the World Health Organization and the recommendations contained in the report on improving coordination, coherence and effectiveness of governance for global health and addressing the social determinants of health;

Calls for more attention to health as an important cross-cutting policy issue on the international agenda;

Encourages Member States to continue to consider the close relationship between global health and foreign policy and to recognize that global health challenges entail concerted and sustained efforts to further promote a global policy environment supportive of global health;

Invites Member States to adopt a multisectoral approach, while taking into consideration the social determinants of health, with a view to reducing health inequities and enabling sustainable development, and stresses the urgent need to act on social determinants for the final push towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, to protect economic and social development and to recognize the importance of universal coverage in national health systems, especially through primary health-care and social protection mechanisms, including nationally determined social protection floors, so as to provide access to health services for all, in particular the poorest segments of the population;

Reiterates the need to fully implement the International Health Regulations,Error: Reference source not found as part of the emergency responses to health and environment-related issues;

Health and the environment

Reaffirms that human beings are at the centre of concerns related to sustainable development and are entitled to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature;

Also reaffirms the leading role of the World Health Organization and the important role of the United Nations system in meeting the challenges of global health in a changing environment and enhancing the visibility of health issues in the different international forums;

Further reaffirms the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the objectives and principles set out therein, and the commitment to enable the full, effective and sustained implementation of the Convention, in order to achieve its ultimate objective;

Urges Member States to intensify efforts to address, as appropriate, the social determinants of exposure to environmental hazards and their current and projected consequences on health;

Calls for more attention to health-related issues in the global environmental agenda as well as for more attention to environmental issues in the health agenda, and calls upon the international community to acknowledge the direct linkages between health and the environment;

Urges Member States to promote at all levels the integration of health concerns, including of people living in vulnerable situations, into strategies, policies and programmes for poverty eradication and sustainable development;

Encourages the development of multisectoral policies with a view to limiting not only the detrimental impact of human intervention and environmental degradation on but also the current and projected consequences of climate change for health;

Encourages Member States to link health and the environment in their national development plans and, through education and training at all levels, to develop national capacities to better prevent diseases related to the environment;

Reaffirms that the development of national and international policies on environmental protection has a beneficial effect on health;

Stresses the need to foster research on environmental risk factors and social determinants of health;

Also stresses the need to strengthen national monitoring mechanisms for measuring the impacts of the environment on health, identifying emerging risks and evaluating the progress made and to strengthen national risk assessment and early warning mechanisms for identifying, assessing and addressing health vulnerabilities posed by environmental degradation;

Calls for increased international, regional and subregional cooperation and assistance, including through the mobilization of resources and the transfer of knowledge, technology and expertise, on mutually agreed terms, so as to enhance the capacity of developing countries to manage risks, including through the development and sustainability of the infrastructure and scientific, technological, technical and institutional capacities needed to research, observe, analyse, map and, where possible, forecast natural and environmental hazards, vulnerabilities and disaster impacts;

Reiterates the importance of launching international capacity-building initiatives that assess health and environmental linkages and use the knowledge gained to create more effective national and regional policy responses to environmental threats to human health;

Encourages, in this regard, greater international cooperation on sharing best practices and providing technical assistance and assistance in capacity-building to developing countries in the implementation of their national policies;

Encourages Member States to take into consideration the important role of health for the achievement of sustainable development, including in the context of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development;

Health and natural disasters

Expresses grave concern at the increase in the number of people affected by natural disasters, and stresses the need to address their health needs;

Underlines the crucial role of health in emergency preparedness and response to natural disasters, as well as the need to fully integrate health into strategies for disaster risk reduction and sustainable recovery;

Recognizes the primary role of national and local authorities in responding to disasters and the leading role of the World Health Organization, as the lead of the Global Health Cluster, in the provision of humanitarian assistance by the United Nations system, and as a partner of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, in supporting relief efforts and enhancing disaster preparedness;

Also recognizes the clear relationship between emergency response, rehabilitation and development, and reaffirms that, in order to ensure a smooth transition from relief to rehabilitation and development, emergency assistance in natural disasters must be provided in ways that will be supportive of recovery and long-term development and that emergency measures should be seen as a step towards sustainable development;

Welcomes the adoption by the sixty-fourth World Health Assembly on 24 May 2011 of resolution 64.10 on strengthening national health emergency and disaster management capacities and resilience of health systems, on 20 May 2011 of resolution 64.1 on implementation of the International Health Regulations (2005) and on 24 May 2011 of resolution 64.24 on drinking water, sanitation and health;Error: Reference source not found

Stresses the continued need for coordination in natural disasters among the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs of the Secretariat, the World Health Organization, other relevant United Nations organizations, humanitarian organizations, the World Bank and regional development banks so as to enhance effectiveness of health responses and to strengthen preparedness and response capacity of national and local health authorities, in close coordination with national Governments, taking into account the primary and leading role of the affected State in the initiation, organization, coordination and implementation of such assistance within its territory;

Recognizes the important role of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction in monitoring the implementation of the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005–2015: Building the Resilience of Nations and Communities to Disasters, including in the health sector;

Encourages Member States to strengthen all-hazards health emergency and disaster risk-management programmes, including disaster risk reduction, emergency preparedness and response, water and sanitation and epidemic control, and to integrate them into national and international health plans;

Urges Member States to intensify efforts, as appropriate, to address the social determinants of vulnerabilities to disasters and their current and projected consequences for health;

Underlines the importance of strengthening the preparedness of health systems for emergencies, including through programmes on safe and prepared hospitals and training for health-care workers;

Encourages Member States to strengthen the involvement of communities in disaster preparedness and response in order to enhance their resilience;

Follow-up actions

Urges Member States to continue to consider health issues in the formulation of foreign policy;

Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Director-General of the World Health Organization and with the participation of relevant programmes, funds and specialized agencies of the United Nations system, as well as other relevant multilateral institutions, as appropriate, and in consultation with Member States, to give high priority to generating and collecting comparable and reliable data on the interlinkages between health and environment, and health and natural disasters, and to submit to the General Assembly at its sixty-seventh session, under the item entitled “Global health and foreign policy”, a report which reflects on these interlinkages and contains recommendations for improving the management of health risks arising from environmental disasters.

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