Strengthening health in foreign policy and development cooperation

Meeting report, Berlin, Germany, 28–29 April 2015 

Five years following the adoption of the resolution EUR/RC60/R6 on health in foreign policy and development cooperation at the 60th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (RC60), and as part of taking forward the Health 2020 agenda, the WHO Regional Office for Europe organized a high-level technical meeting in Berlin, Germany on 28–29 April 2015. Hosted by the Federal Ministry of Health of Germany, the aim of the meeting was to discuss the progress and opportunities to strengthen policy coherence through intersectoral collaboration for health in foreign policy and development cooperation. The meeting is part of a series of meetings leading up to the discussions on strengthening and supporting intersectoral collaboration for health at the 65th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Europe (RC65), to be held in Vilnius, Lithuania, on 14–17 September 2015.
 
This two-day meeting brought together representatives from the health, foreign policy and development cooperation sectors from selected countries, including Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, the Russian Federation, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Turkmenistan; and the European Commission.
 
This meeting report provides an analytical overview of the discussions about the experiences of Member States in strengthening health in foreign policy and development cooperation; the approaches and mechanisms used to enhance horizontal and vertical policy coherence for global health; the preconditions needed to achieve policy coherence among these sectors; the common challenges encountered; and the recommendations on how Member States and international organizations can establish principles for joint action and promote synergies among these sectors at all levels, while also creating mechanisms and instruments to ensure cooperation and continuity. The meeting report will inform the documentation on promoting intersectoral and interagency action for health and well-being in the WHO European Region, to be submitted to RC65.