Last updated: 20 september 2006

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September 20, 2006

United Nations Coherence Panel to recommend a new women's entity

The International Council of Nurses (ICN) added its voice to those demanding the creation of an international women's agency with sufficient resources, power and authority to have a real impact on the condition of women worldwide. Nurses worldwide have positively influenced the recommendations of the Coherence Panel charged by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to identify how gender equality can be more fully addressed in the work of the UN. "Nurses played a greater role than any other single lobbying force (...)", said Paula Donovan, Senior Advisor, Women's and Children's Issues, Office of the UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. The panel's recommendations will be made public mid-October.


To read the paper "Gender Equality Now or Never: A New UN Agency for Women":
http://www.icn.ch/UNwomen_agency_position_paper.pdf

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Publications

Finish EU Presidency - "Health in All Policies"

The Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, published a book entitled "Health in All Policies - Prospects and potentials", which aims to serve as background for the high-level expert conference on 'Health in All Policies', to take place on 20-21 September 2006, in Kuopio, Finland. The objective of the conference is to present how measures in sectors other than the health sector affect population health and how population health can be promoted by measures in other sectors. The Council conclusions on the issue are expected to be published on 30 November 2006.

To read this document:
http://www.stm.fi/Resource.phx/

 

 

Patients' better access to healthcare info

The International Alliance of Patients' Organizations (IAPO) recently published the results of a survey on patients' perceptions of healthcare. The survey highlights the need for a more patient-centred approach to healthcare and more efficient communication on disease and treatment options for patients. It includes an analysis of the quality of healthcare and identifies the major challenges for improvements of government healthcare policies.

To read the survey:
http://www.patientsorganizations.org

 

Key challenges for Education Systems

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) recently published its annual report 'Education at a Glance', a quantitative and internationally comparable indicators enabling the governments to see their education systems in the light of other countries' performances. The report identifies four challenges facing the OECD countries' education systems: Quantity, Quality, Equity and Ambition.


To read the report: http://www.sourceoecd.org/