Analysis of the implementation of the Munich Declaration

The Munich Declaration: Nurses and midwives: a Force for Health was adopted at the Second WHO Ministerial Conference on Nursing and Midwifery in Europe in June 2000 in Munich, Germany. Ministers of Health identified key actions through which the potential of nurses and midwives as a significant political and social force and resource for public health could be realized.

WHO/Europe subsequently developed a reference guide, Moving on from Munich, to support  implementation of the Declaration. In 2001 questionnaires were sent to Member States’ Ministries of Health and national nursing and/or national midwifery associations to track the implementation of the Declaration. Three years after the first questionnaire, which revealed rather disappointing results for the implementation of the Declaration, a second questionnaire was sent to Member States in April 2004. The main results from this questionnaire are presented in this progress review.