Hans Kluge: WHO European Bureau Aims to Strengthen Regional Cooperation Within IPA CIS Platform

On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of new coronavirus the COVID-19 pandemic. The CIS MPs consolidated their efforts to elaborate legislative response to this new challenge.

Since then the issues of countering the spread of infection and the impacts of the pandemic firmly established themselves in the global agenda. Legal support for the CIS efforts in connection with the pandemic has become the main theme of the meeting of the IPA CIS Council, which took place on 27 November 2020. Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko noted that the new challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic forced national public authorities to search for compensatory measures with due account to the existing uncertainty, both independently and within international institutions.

The autumn session of the IPA CIS Council was attended by WHO Regional Director for Europe Dr. Hans Kluge. He noted the important role of national parliaments in the implementation of the global health agenda. “In order to implement the principle ‘health for everyone’ we need to seek the political support at the highest level. The MPs have the opportunity to develop and adopt the laws and allocate funds for their implementation”.

On 27 November 2020, the IPA CIS Council adopted the Joint Statement of the Council of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Regional Office for Europe of the World Health Organization  “Role of Parliaments in Countering COVID-19”.

“Parliaments should play a crucial role in supporting national efforts to stop the pandemic and mobilize the resources to adopt extensive measures in the field of healthcare, as recommended by the World Health Organization. The main objective of the parliaments is to provide legislative support to the implementation of a comprehensive strategy aimed at preventing the spread of infection, saving lives and mitigating the negative impact of the decease, including through holding social and economic activities. Moreover, while exercising their legislative and oversight functions, the MPs can ensure the compliance of the efforts of the government bodies with their commitments to the implementation of human rights, as well as with maintaining a balance between the right to health and mitigating undesirable effects of restricting measures for social and economic rights”, states the document.

“I would like to express my gratitude to the Interparliamentary Assembly for the adoption of laws related to health needs of children, migrants, refugees and other vulnerable groups. The IPA CIS has already adopted several laws in this area and is currently working on the Model Migration Code. The WHO is ready to provide support in this important endeavor and its evidence-based methods and expert potential”, said Hans Kluge.