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:
1. 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.
2. Population and environmental public health interventions to control outbreaks and mitigate their effects on the health of those affected.
3. 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 Program, 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.
