Background
Since Member States announced their intention to pursue a resolution on social participation at the side event held during WHA76 last year, much progress has been made in drafting and negotiating the resolution on social participation for UHC, health and well-being, to be tabled at the WHA77. This considerable effort has been led by Slovenia and Thailand as Co-Chairs and a Core Group of countries that includes Brazil, France, Norway and Tunisia.
As the draft resolution asserts, the participation of people, communities and civil society in health decision-making processes can make policies and programmes more equitable, responsive and efficient, improve service uptake and foster trust.
Building on previous intergovernmental commitments at regional and global levels that endorse the principle of social participation – including SDG target 16.7, the Astana Declaration on Primary Health Care and the Political Declaration of the UN High Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage in 2023 – it is now time for commitments to implement actions for more meaningful, systematic and sustained social participation within countries.
How countries can do this is the focus of the WHO Handbook, ‘Voice, agency, empowerment – handbook on social participation for universal health coverage’, launched in 2021, and also the Technical Paper, launched in 2023 based on broad multi-stakeholder consultations. WHO has supported countries through the UHC Partnership and in-country policy-advisors to strengthen and institutionalise social participation as a key strategy to implement the primary health care approach.
A EuroHealth special issue on social participation is being prepared for launch and dissemination during WHA, with a global focus, to help clarify what social participation is and what it is not, why it matters, and key actions that countries can prioritize to advance social participation, with country examples.
Objectives
The main objectives of the side event are to:
- Promote social participation as a means to accelerate progress towards UHC, health and well-being
- Demonstrate and mobilise support for social participation among political leaders, civil society, and other key stakeholders
- Identify clear priority actions to advance social participation at country level
The special issue of EuroHealth will be disseminated during the event.
