The Health and Environment Strategic Alliance (HESA) is a country-driven initiative to help coordinate action by the health and environment sectors, and engage in country-level development planning processes to effectively utilise health and environment interlinkages in the protection and promotion of public health and ecosystem integrity.
DOWNLOAD AN OVERVIEW OF THE HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT STRATEGIC ALLIANCELorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt
The core mandate of HESA is to support the joint implementation of the Libreville Declaration. Read more about the Declaration here.
The purpose of HESA is to help coordinate action between the health and environment sectors and engage in country-level development planning processes, with the aim of protecting and promoting public health and ecosystem integrity.
The Libreville Declaration on Health and Environment in Africa was adopted on 29 August 2008 by ministers of health and ministers in charge of the environment from 52 African countries. In this Declaration, the ministers committed African countries to establishing a Health and Environment Strategic Alliance (HESA) for addressing health and environment issues in Africa.
To facilitate access to technical and financial resources by countries to meet the objectives and targets set in their National Joint Plans of Action (NJPAs) anchored in the Libreville Declaration.
READ MORETo ensure that the priority actions contained in the Libreville Declaration remain on the top of the policy and strategic agenda of countries and their partners, and to communicate and collaborate with stakeholders at the international level.
READ MORETo provide guidance and support to countries for the assessment and management of environmental risk factors for human health and ecosystem degradation.
READ MORETo assess, document and disseminate the progress made in the implementation and impact of the Libreville Declaration, and to recommend changes where needed.
READ MOREThe Inter-Ministerial Conference on Health and Environment in Africa (IMCHE) is a policy forum to facilitate intersectional dialogue and provide opportunities to take decisions that may lead to a better alignment of resolutions adopted by meetings of the WHO Regional Committee with those of the African Ministerial Conference on Environment, African Union Heads of State Summits and other relevant forums, on matters concerning health and environment linkages in Africa. The IMCHE takes place every two years and is preceded by the Meeting of Experts. Experts on health and environment should also organise meetings at subregional levels in collaboration with and with the support of Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and relevant regional groupings to address specific health- and environment-related issues.
The Country Coordination Committees (CCCs) will act as the Secretariat of the HESA at the national level. They will be responsible, inter alia, for the preparation, monitoring and evaluation of the National Joint Plans of Action (NPJAs). Governments, therefore, need to establish CCCs that are multi-sectoral and multidisciplinary. The CCCs have to reflect representation from all relevant ministries and will be coordinated at supra-ministerial level. The CCCs will steer the implementation of the Libreville Declaration. They will be overseen at the political level by interagency committees that will include government representatives, development partners and the civil society, and should convene meetings regularly. The exact form of the above arrangements will be decided by governments themselves, according to their specific situations.
The Meeting of Partners will bring together WHO, UNEP, other UN agencies, regional economic groupings, development banks, and donor countries on an annual basis with African countries to review progress in the implementation of the Libreville Declaration. These meetings with partners will provide guidance on the implementation of resolutions adopted by the Interministerial Conference and endorse international-level plans of joint action prepared by the Secretariat.
The Secretariat of the HESA at the international level will be assumed by the Joint Task Team (JTT) in accordance with the recommendation of the first Meeting of Partners. The JTT is currently composed of WHO and UNEP staff members. Other UN agencies, regional economic groupings and developments banks will be requested to designate a representative to serve on the JTT, as appropriate. The JTT will develop biennial plans of action (International Plans of Joint Action (IPJAs)) that will be based on NPJAs and aligned with work plans of WHO, UNEP and partners. Selected countries will participate in the JTT on a rotational basis according to criteria agreed by the Interministerial Conference.