Meeting report of the First High-level Meeting of Small Countries

2014

The Small Countries project focuses on the strategic objectives of Health 2020, and its values and principles for action to improve population health and well-being, reduce health inequities and build more equitable, cohesive and sustainable societies in countries with small populations. The First High-level Meeting of Small Countries served as a forum to share information on small countries' experiences, lessons learnt and plans related to Health 2020 implementation, and to discuss how to advance the collaboration among small countries. Experiences shared showed that small countries have advantages, such as strong social cohesion, as well as disadvantages, such as facing the same challenges as large countries, but with less capacity. Solutions for such challenges are highlighted in this report. Additionally, the meeting stressed the importance of documenting how to align national health policies to Health 2020; the benefits of joint capacity-building events and structures between the Regional Office and small countries; how better engagement of the media leads to a supportive environment for Health 2020; and the need for a platform to share experiences and mutual learning about Health 2020 implementation.