RL-UGHW coordinated the recently-concluded Regional Workshop in partnership with WHO-SEARO to support cities in the SEAR Healthy Cities Network. Over the 3-day workshop, country and city representatives in SEAR underwent capacity building to chart cities’ health and develop actionable plans to improve health and well-being for the population.
RL-UGHW conducted sessions to guide development of City Health Profiles, which included mapping the availability of data and studying gaps which limit cities’ ability to do so. Participants also mapped stakeholders as part of strategic planning conducted to build into set priorities and detailed action plans.
The workshop emphasized the importance of health equity, a key mission of WHO, and drew cities’ attention to vulnerable populations such as the poor/homeless, migrants, elderly, women and disabled. Through numerous exercises, participants gained valuable insight on various dimensions of health equity and well-being, as well as the importance of addressing socio-economic determinants of health to cultivate holistic urban health settings.
City representatives had the opportunity to share about existing challenges and healthy city initiatives which have been put in place. Participants hence learnt from one another’s best practices, with supplementary insights from the technical expert panel convened by WHO-SEARO to support the SEAR Healthy Cities Network.
RL-UGHW is proud to have supported this workshop as part of its mission to support SEAR Cities in the Healthy Cities Network. Through joint partnerships, RL-UGHW looks forward to supporting cities’ development of robust multi-sectoral mechanisms, enabling continued improvement of health and well-being of cities in the region.
