The International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife: taking stock of outcomes and commitments
Overview
The 72nd World Health Assembly designated 2020 The International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife. This provided a special opportunity to celebrate the two professions and drive investments in the education, employment, leadership and working conditions of the largest component of the health workforce.
A rapid review was conducted of online information in English of reported activities and outcomes of the International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife from mid-2019 (when it was announced) through mid-2021 (to capture activities postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic). The findings, which cannot be considered representative or comprehensive, were described at the global and WHO Regional levels and, at the country-level, they were grouped into special events, high-level recognition and awards, advancements in leadership, and commitments and actual investments in education, employment and working conditions.
The YONM was a powerful catalyst for global advocacy, evidence, and policy action. The Nursing Now campaign generated more than 700 grassroots nursing groups in 126 countries. The State of the world’s nursing 2020 and the State of the world’s midwifery 2021 reports provided persuasive data on these two workforces. Shortly thereafter, Member States requested that WHO develop the next Global Strategic Directions for Nursing and Midwifery (SDNM), which were adopted with a Resolution on nursing and midwifery – the first in ten years.
The next steps are to consolidate both the gains and the lessons learned during the YONM, and to each take our respective actions to ensure that announcements are turned into policy decisions, and advocacy appropriately links with political decisions. There is a clear mandate through the SDNM to monitor and hold countries accountable for strengthening their nursing and midwifery workforces via investments in education, jobs, leadership and service delivery. If countries can realize the gains through policies that help countries optimize the contributions of nurses and midwives towards achieving UHC and the SDGs, it will be the longest-lasting legacy of the YONM.
