The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) reach a milestone, completing a five-year Memorandum of Understanding which has enabled important successes. The Memorandum, signed in October 2018, started with a grant of US$ 330 000, funding aimed at supporting parliaments to influence and support global health in countries worldwide. The objectives and vision of the alliance included impacting not only legislation but also oversight, budget allocation, as well as advocacy and representation.
The joint work plan to implement the MoU became a roadmap for collaboration, focusing on mobilizing parliaments for supporting Universal Health Coverage (UHC), integrating global health security (GHS) into IPU's health initiatives, and fortifying parliamentary capabilities in health promotion, with a focus on women's, children's, and adolescent's health (WCAH).
Furthermore, there were 1084 parliamentarians and parliamentary staff from 116 countries who benefited from capacity-building initiatives under the MoU.
Successes:
Evidence of success from the partnership is found in a number of countries, with tangible results echoing through the parliamentary chambers.
Benin:
The Parliament of Benin requested IPU assistance to build capacity around UHC and UHC legislation. A workshop in May 2022 with WHO Country and Regional Offices as well as a government official from Côte d'Ivoire facilitated an exchange experiences and best practices. Following the workshop, the Parliament of Benin was well equipped to adopt revisions to the health legislation in Benin, considering several of the recommendations.
Ghana:
In the context of WHO work on health taxes, the IPU catalysed the Parliament of Ghana to appoint a focal point at the parliamentary level to take the country's work on health taxes further. This enabled WHO to provide data to support discussions on legislative amendments to health taxes, which were adopted in December 2022.
Micronesia:
Following the adoption of the IPU resolution on UHC, the Parliament of Micronesia introduced a national resolution making Universal Health Coverage a national priority. The parliament encouraged the government to take all measures to achieve of UHC by 2030.
As the curtain falls on this chapter, the collaboration between IPU and WHO stands resilient, weathering crises like the COVID-19 pandemic. The harmony between these two entities holds the promise of a brighter future, where parliamentarians play an even more influential role in health processes.
However, the work does not end here; a new chapter awaits with the anticipated signing of a new five-year MoU in March 2024 at the 148th IPU Assembly. This future framework is to generate an even greater impact on global health. It will focus on the role of parliamentarians in mobilizing support for sustainable financing for WHO and the pandemic accord as well as continuing the three existing priorities for collaboration – UHC, global health security and promoting health, especially for vulnerable groups, including women, children and adolescents.
