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Community Protection Partners Meeting: communities at the centre of managing health emergencies [1]

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Date: 2024-05-07

In 2023, WHO Member States endorsed a proposal from the WHO Director General for a strengthened Health Emergency Preparedness, Response and Resilience (HEPR) global architecture. Community Protection is a core part of this framework. Delivering community protection means putting people and communities that are affected by an emergency at the centre of decisions and actions aimed at protecting their health and well-being. It covers three integrated areas of work:

Technical approaches that involve and engage with those affected, including community engagement, risk communication and infodemic management to guide priority actions and strengthen community resilience. Population and environmental public health interventions to control outbreaks and mitigate their effects on the health of those affected. Multisectoral action to account for and mitigate social and economic impacts of emergencies and their responses.

Hosted by the Community Readiness and Resilience Unit, Country Readiness Strengthening Department of WHO Health Emergency Programme, this event will bring together global to local networks of multilateral organisations, partner agencies, civil society organizations and others that work with communities that are at-risk of or affected by public health emergencies. Through a series of presentation and moderated panel discussions, this meeting will

Review good practice and progress to date on advancing community-centred health emergency management as enabled by diverse stakeholders across the ecosystem of partners and other agencies that deliver on this agenda.

Review good practice, challenges, and key actions for advancing community protection.

Discuss modalities for collaboration and partnership and strengthen the network of networks for community protection.





A key outcome is to define progress, gaps, and priorities for action in delivering strengthened community protection outcomes.

Welcome and WHO Chair

Dr Nedret Emiroglu, Director, Country Readiness Strengthening Department, WHO

Dr. Nedret Emiroglu started her career on communicable disease prevention and control in the Turkish Ministry of Health, where she led Turkey’s eradication of poliomyelitis. In 1997, she joined WHO in charge of vaccination first in the Western Pacific Region and then in Turkey and the Balkans. Dr. Nedret Emiroglu is now the Director of Country Readiness Strengthening Department in the Health Emergencies Programme at WHO Headquarters. The objectives of the Country Readiness Strengthening Department include the development and strengthening of core national readiness capacities necessary to mitigate and respond to emergency risks and vulnerabilities, prioritizing the most vulnerable and low-capacity countries.

Opening Remarks

Dr Mike Ryan, Executive Director, WHO Health Emergencies Programme and Deputy Director-General

At the forefront of managing acute risks to global health for nearly 25 years, Dr Ryan first joined WHO in 1996, within a newly established unit responding to emerging and epidemic disease threats. He has worked in conflict-affected countries across the world and has led WHO’s operational responses to high impact events such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the SARS epidemic. In addition he served as a Senior Advisor on Polio Eradication for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative from 2013 to 2017, deploying to countries in the Middle East.



Partner Messages

Dr Petra Khoury, Director of Health and Care Department, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)

Dr Petra Khoury is Global Director of Health and Care at IFRC headquarters in Geneva. In her current role, she oversees the IFRC operational plan on global health security, health protection and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). She works with a network of 191 National Red Cross Red Crescent Societies on health preparedness, readiness and emergency response plans.

Dr Douglas Noble, Associate Director, Public Health Emergencies Preparedness and Response UNICEF

Dr. Douglas Noble is the Associate Director for Public Health Emergencies Preparedness and Response for UNICEF. As the global lead for public health emergencies in UNICEF he is driven by a desire to ensure that girls and boys, families and communities are prepared and protected during public health emergencies.

Dr Waheed Arian, NHS emergency doctor and Founder of Arian Teleheal

Dr Waheed Arian is a former Afghan refugee, who is now an NHS emergency doctor in the UK, author of best-selling memoir In The Wars and founder of the pioneering telemedicine charity Arian Teleheal, which works directly with clinicians in low-resource countries to build capacity, provide emergency support, and trauma-informed and culturally appropriate psychological therapies through its specialist volunteers. As an adviser, Dr Arian helps global organizations and governments with the development of their healthcare and education systems. Recognized as a UNESCO Global Hope Hero and a UN Global Goals Goalkeeper, in 2021 he was named Doctor of the Year and chosen by The Times as Person of the Year. In 2022 he was given The World Citizen Award from Turkish Radio and Television. Dr Arian has been a signatory to the WHO First World Report on Health of Refugees and Migrants."

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[1] Url: https://www.who.int/news-room/events/detail/2024/05/07/default-calendar/community-protection-partners-meeting--communities-at-the-center-of-managing-health-emergencies

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