ICN-ICM-WHO Triad: Investment in Nursing and Midwifery Workforces, Key Driver of Effective Health Systems, Thriving Population, Improving Health Outcomes and Prosperous Economies

A communiqué has been released following the Triad meetings held by the International Council of Nurses (ICN), International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) and the World Health Organization (WHO), 16-19 May, in advance of the World Health Assembly. Highlighting the key role of the nursing and midwifery workforce in achieving universal health coverage and strong economies, Government chief nursing and  midwifery officers (GCNMOs), leaders and representatives of national nursing and midwifery associations, regulators and the three organisations committed to several actions to:

• increase recognition of nurses’ and midwives’ roles in strengthening PHC and progressing towards UHC and the SDGs;

• develop nursing and midwifery leadership; promoting investment in nursing and midwifery;

• support midwives and nurses to practice to the full extent of their education and scope;

• contribute to health workforce strategic intelligence; improve nursing and midwifery workforce data;

• support the International Platform on Health Worker Mobility;

• promote productive work, fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for families;

• advocate for an enabling practice environment;

• call for the protection of midwives and nurses and other health personnel;

• increase the participation of midwives and nurses in formulating solutions to local problems of national and international significance;

• support the continuous implementation of the Global Strategic Directions for Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery 2016-2020.

Held every two years, the Triad meeting focused on topics such as Building nursing and midwifery capacity to achieve universal health coverage and the Sustainable Development Goals; Labour market dynamics and education policies in investing in the nursing and midwifery workforce; Optimizing performance, quality and impact of the nursing and midwifery workforce through evidence-informed policies; Strengthening nursing and midwifery data for monitoring and ensuring accountability for the implementation of national and regional strategies; and Strengthening nursing and midwifery through collaboration and partnerships.

Triad participants also highlighted that longstanding and growing challenges facing the health workforce, including nursing and midwifery, need to be addressed in order to achieve the SDGs, UHC and strengthen PHC.

ICN: Annette Kennedy (President); Thomas Kearns (Interim CEO); Pam Cipriano (ICN Board member and President of the American Nurses Association); Sung Rae Shin (ICN Board member); Thembeka Gwagwa (ICN Board member); Howard Catton (ICN Director of Nursing and Health Policy); David Stewart (ICN Associate Director, Nursing & Health Policy); Erica Burton (ICN) Senior Nurse Analyst); Christian Stromes (ICN Nurse Student)

ICM: Mary Kirk (Vice President); Sally Pairman (CEO)

WHO: Elizabeth Iro (Chief Nurse); James Campbell (Director, Health Workforce); Jeremy Lauer (Economist, Health Systems Governance and Financing), Magda Awases (Health Systems and Human Resources Development); Saminarsih Diah Satyani (Advisor on Gender and Youth); Silvia Cassiani (Nursing & Health Technician Advisor); Khassoum Diallo (Coordinator, Data, Evidence and Knowledge Management); John Grove (Director, Information, Evidence and Research); David Clarke (Health Systems Adviser); Fran McConville (Technical Officer for Midwifery); Michele Rumsey (Director, WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery & Health)

CNOs/CMOs: Kanjana Chuntai (Thailand); Siobhan O’Halloran (Ireland); Nonhlanhla Makhanya (South Africa); Sumaya Alblooshi (UAE); Wendy Sealey (Barbados); Marcel Johnson (Bahamas); Edna Tallam (Kenya)

Nursing Now: Lord Nigel Crisp (co-Chair); Sheila Tlou (co-Chair); Baroness Mary Watkins (Alternate Chair);Catherine Hanaway (Acting Global Campaign Executive Director

ILO: Moussa Oumarou; (Deputy Director-General for Field Operations & Partnerships); Allette van Leur (Director of the Sectoral Policies Department)

Other: Her Royal Highness Princess Muna al Hussein of Jordan; Mary Renfrew (Professor of Mother and Infant Health, University of Dundee): Viv Bennett (Director, Nursing at Public Health England); Lynn Power (Canadian National Nursing Assessment Service); Franklin Shaffer (CEO, CGFNS International); Francis Omaswa; Harindar Goyal (R.A.K. College of Nursing, India); Michael Larui (Chair, South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers Alliance); Barbara Stilwell, Laura Hoemeke (Intrahealth); Arush Lal (Global Health Corps); Rupa Dhatt (Women in Global Health) and Vince Blaser (Frontline Health Workers Coalition)

More information on these meetings can be found on: http://www.icn.ch/events/icn-meetingsa-events/