About our idea

The WHO has a broad, global mandate to support public health. That mandate is continually growing—and, critically, expanding into different specific areas for Healthier Populations, Universal Health Coverage and Health Emergencies, which stretch beyond the remit of Ministries of Health (MoH).

To address this challenge, the WHO has offered guidance and tools to its staff related to the “whole of government approach” and “health in all policies”. There have also been noted successes in the development of comprehensive and inclusive country cooperation strategies that reach beyond Ministries of Health.

How it started

That said, the WHO has lacked an organization-wide, standardized approach to encourage and enable engagement “beyond our comfort zone” within Ministries of Health.

The Beyond Our Comfort Zone framework provides WHO staff with a structured resource to deliver health solutions on Healthier Populations, Universal Health Coverage and Health Emergencies in the thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13).

Specific thematic areas such as alcohol, tobacco control, nutrition, climate change, road safety and emergency response can utilize this resource to broaden their engagement at the country level.

This resource is offered to help meet this need, and to mainstream a consistent and effective approach to strategic planning, partnership and engagement with a breadth of stakeholders across national governments, NGOs, and the private sector

Meet the team

Dr Meleckidzedeck Khayesi

BOCZ team leader Technical Officer, Safety and Mobility Unit, Department of Social Determinants of Health, WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland

Dr Matts-Ake Belin

BOCZ assistant team leader
Technical Officer & Global Lead, Decade of Action for Road Safety, Safety and Mobility Unit, Department of Social Determinants of Health, WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland

Dr Gampo Dorji

Team Lead, Non-Communicable Diseases & Mental Health, WHO Country Office, Lalitpur, Nepal

Mr Jonathon Passmore

Programme Manager – Road Safety, Injury & Violence Prevention European Center for Environment & Health WHO Regional Office for Europe, Bonn, Germany

Dr Hala Sakr Ali

Regional Adviser, Violence, injuries and disabilities; and UAE Desk Officer WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt

Dr Raquel Mahoque

National Professional Officer
Non-Communicable Diseases & Mental Health /Injuries & Violence/Gender/PRSEAH
WHO Country Office, Maputo, Mozambique

Ms María Eugenia Keller

Former staff member
PAHO/WHO Country Office, Argentina

Nicole Valentine

Technical Officer, Equity Unit,
Department of Social Determinants of Health, WHO HQ, Geneva, Switzerland

Current process and how we do it

Our vision is for WR’s and country cooperations strategy coordinators to shift from focusing only on the ministries of health, and engaging other sectors for better results and better populations.

Unlike the current conventional approach that relies on MOH as the main government agency for WHO to work through, our framework would give the WHO a structured roadmap to broaden country-level engagement. Instead of working within silos and hierarchies, this approach is more about networks and collaboration with stakeholders that can deliver benefits to the people. The approach proposed by BOCZ does not neglect the Ministry of Health. It recognizes the ministry of health as one of the key government agencies mandated to deliver on specific issues.

The approach of BOCZ helps the ministry of health to realise a transformation towards building greater intersectoral capacities and functions to collaborate with other ministries. In order to do so WHO may need to contact and initiate collaboration directly with other ministries beyond the ministry of health for issues for which relevant ministries that have mandate, strategies, personnel and funds. For example, the ministry of agriculture has a timebound development of a new plan and resources for nutrition and it is prudent for WHO to seize the opportunity to collaborate and to work directly with the ministry of agriculture, using this opportunity to search out opportunities for the ministry of health to build their inter/multisectoral/Health in All Policies functions.

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