November 28, 2017
Last week, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad al Hussein, signed an agreement to deepen collaboration between their agencies. The agreement – formally called a Framework for Cooperation – responds to the recommendations in the June 2017 report of the High Level Working Group for the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents.
This Working Group was established by WHO and OHCHR to identify practical recommendations to better operationalize human rights to achieve the targets in the Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health (2016-2030).
Rights-based approaches
The WHO-OHCHR Framework of Cooperation spells out several ways in which the two agencies will strengthen their collaboration, including building capacity at country level to implement rights-based approaches, and strengthening the way in which health issues are considered by existing human rights mechanisms. The initial term of the Framework of Cooperation is four years, and both agencies will review progress annually.
At the signing, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros noted that, “a human rights-based approach to health is essential to achieving my top priority as DG – universal health coverage. No one should get sick and die just because they are poor, or because they cannot access the health services they need.”
Read the news report on the WHO website
Download the report (PDF) of the High Level Working Group for the Health and Human Rights of Women, Children and Adolescents