WHO and the IPU celebrate and accelerate efforts to advance gender equality and health for all, with the launch of the WHO-IPU handbook for parliamentarians on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and a landmark workshop on sexual and reproductive health.
146th Assembly and related meetings: Click here
Parliaments play a crucial role in supporting the health of the people they represent by operationalizing national and international commitments. They enact legislation, review and approve budgets, and hold governments to account for progress towards UHC. They work to reduce inequalities and remove barriers that prevent people from enjoying good health and well-being throughout their lives.
WHO is pleased to attend the 146th Assembly of the IPU and its related meetings in Manama, Bahrain, with a series of co-organized events building on longstanding commitments to ensure health lives and promoting well-being for all throughout life.
IPU Governing Council Meeting – Launch of the IPU-WHO Handbook on UHC
Sunday, 12 March, 09:00-11:00
Universal Health Coverage (UHC) means that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship.
A video address from Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, will formally launch the new IPU-WHO handbook, The path to universal health coverage at the IPU Governing Council meeting, led by Mr Martin Chungong, IPU Secretary General. The handbook outlines tools and approaches parliamentarians can use to operationalize the UHC vision of their country, as well as successful approaches adopted by other countries from which everyone can learn.
Side event – Leveraging the role of parliamentarians to progress towards UHC
Monday, 13 March, 11.30 to 13.00, room C 18
Parliamentarians are uniquely positioned, through their core roles of law-making, budgeting and oversight, to transform societies to enable everyone to have access to the health services they need; especially those of women, girls and adolescents; and by eliminating the drastic inequalities that exist today.
Following the launch of the new IPU-WHO handbook on UHC, this side event will highlight practical opportunities for parliaments to take action at the country level to support progress toward UHC, with a focus on key areas of: law-making; financing (including health taxes); accountability, and prioritizing the health needs of women, children and adolescents.
Sexual and reproductive health workshop – Preparing young people for a safe, healthy, fulfilling life: Parliamentarians advancing comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) with and for their communities
Tuesday, 14 March, 17:00 – 18:30, Hall 2
Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), a curriculum-based process of age-appropriate, scientifically accurate and culturally relevant information, aligns with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development commitment to educate children for sustainable lifestyles, human rights and gender equality. It is also consistent with the special attention given to adolescents in the IPU’s landmark resolution on achieving UHC.
There is a growing consensus between government, parliament and civil society about the value of CSE – and there are coordinated efforts to engage those who are unsure about its value or are resistant to it. This workshop will bring together parliamentarians to share perspectives on CSE from their national contexts, including challenges, barriers and successful strategies for promoting, protecting and enhancing CSE.
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