World Health Organization: UK Institutional Strategy 2008–13

HM Government, UK - February 2009

Available online at PDF [35p.] at:
http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_095296

The UK Government has recently agreed the first cross-Government Institutional Strategy (IS) with the World Health Organization (WHO).
The overall aim of the strategy is to set out how the UK and WHO will work together, and to provide a basis for multi-year (2008-2013) core funding relationship with WHO.

“….Institutional strategies are negotiated with a number of our key multilateral partners. They set out how the UK and the international agency concerned believe we can work together most effectively to support the goals and objectives of the UK Government and those of the international agency, and monitor the support provided by the UK to that agency.

The WHO Institutional Strategy is a joint UK strategy that has been led by the Department of Health (DH) in England, the Department for International Development (DFID) and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Other government departments (health departments in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, Her Majesty’s Treasury, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) have also contributed….”

“…..Critical health challenges face the world at the beginning of the 21st century, including:
• the rapid growth of non-communicable diseases and conditions;
• the growth in health inequalities between rich and poor within developed and middle-income countries;
• the still-unchecked HIV/AIDS pandemic;
• the possibility of a successor to the influenza pandemics of the last century;
• the persistence in many countries and many population subgroups of high but preventable levels of mortality and disability from:
– malaria, tuberculosis (TB), diarrhoea and pneumonia;
– malnutrition; and
– childbirth, for both mothers and infants; and
• the threat to health from climate change and other environmental factors.

The World Health Organization (WHO) is at the heart of the global response to all of these challenges. As the directing and coordinating authority for health within the United Nations (UN) system, WHO is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries, and monitoring and assessing health trends. It is also a key development partner for delivering the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). WHO, as a co-sponsor of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), is central to the global effort to tackle HIV and AIDS.

Content:
Foreword
1. Introduction
2. Delivering better global health – the role of WHO
3. UK support to WHO
4. Priority areas 12
5. Monitoring and evaluation
Annexes
Annex 1: Joint UK institutional strategy performance framework
Annex 2: WHO strategic and operational framework
Annex 3: Financing flows to WHO

This Institutional Strategy sets out the rationale and objectives for UK support to WHO and the way we will work together and with others more effectively….”