The history of cooperation between the SEEHN and IOM is long-standing since 2005 immediately after the SEE Second Health Ministers Forum "Health and Economic Development in SEE", November 2005, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia.
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| Family photo of all participants of the SEE Third Health Ministers Forum, October, 2011, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina |
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| The signed Banja Luka Pledge, October 2011 |
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| The Signatories of the Banja Luka Pledge, the IOM Reptresentative amidst |
Since 2005, IOM, though in the capacity of an observer, has played an important role and has contributed to many areas of the regional cooperation in the SEE regaion both, on a country or multi-country basis, in the following areas:
- health of and health services for minority groups of the population;
- cross-border heath services for migrants;
- migration of health workforce;
About the IOM:
IOM is an International Organization committed to the principle that humane and orderly migration benefits migrants and society.
'The Organization was established in December 1951 and began its operations in early 1952 as the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration. Its Constitution was adopted on 19 October 1953 and came into force on 30 November 1954. Amendments were made to the Constitution, effective 14 November 1989, and the Organization was renamed the International Organization for Migration. The Organization possesses full juridical personality and has its Headquarters in Geneva. It currently has 149 Member States.
The Organization's organs are the Council, the Executive Committee and the Administration.
As the leading international organization for migration, IOM acts with its partners in the international community to:
- Assist in meeting the growing operational challenges of migration management.
- Advance understanding of migration issues.
- Encourage social and economic development through migration.
- Uphold the human dignity and well-being of migrants.
IOM's Strategic Focus is:
- To provide secure, reliable, flexible and cost-effective services for persons who require international migration assistance.
- To enhance the humane and orderly management of migration and the effective respect for the human rights of migrants in accordance with international law.
- To offer expert advice, research, technical cooperation and operational assistance to States, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders, in order to build national capacities and facilitate international, regional and bilateral cooperation on migration matters.
- To contribute to the economic and social development of States through research, dialogue, design and implementation of migration-related programmes aimed at maximizing migration's benefits.
- To support States, migrants and communities in addressing the challenges of irregular migration, including through research and analysis into root causes, sharing information and spreading best practices, as well as facilitating development-focused solutions.
- To be a primary reference point for migration information, research, best practices, data collection, compatibility and sharing.
- To promote, facilitate and support regional and global debate and dialogue on migration, including through the International Dialogue on Migration, so as to advance understanding of the opportunities and challenges it presents, the identification and development of effective policies for addressing those challenges and to identify comprehensive approaches and measures for advancing international cooperation.
- To assist States to facilitate the integration of migrants in their new environment and to engage diasporas, including as development partners.
- To participate in coordinated humanitarian responses in the context of inter-agency arrangements in this field and to provide migration services in other emergency or post-crisis situations as appropriate and as relates to the needs of individuals, thereby contributing to their protection.1
- To undertake programmes which facilitate the voluntary return and reintegration of refugees, displaced persons, migrants and other individuals in need of international migration services, in cooperation with other relevant international organizations as appropriate, and taking into account the needs and concerns of local communities.
- To assist States in the development and delivery of programmes, studies and technical expertise on combating migrant smuggling and trafficking in persons, in particular women and children, in a manner consistent with international law.
- To support the efforts of States in the area of labour migration, in particular short term movements, and other types of circular migration.
You can learn more about IOM and its activities following the link: http://www.iom.int/cms/en/sites/iom/home.html
SEEHN and its partnerships:
Since 2011, after its Third Health Ministers´Forum, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina, October 2011 the South-eastern Europe Health Network, one of the initiatives of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the SEE Regional Cooperation Process (SEERCP) in the area of public health and health systems, has moved to a new stage of development.
To date partnerships and networking are amongst the most important of its major directions of work.
Since then the SEEHN has continued to expands its partnerships after having signed Memoranda of Understanding with EuroHealthNet, the International Network of Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services, the European Health Forum Gadstein and Project Hope.
This is in addition to its traditional partneship, since its commencement in 2001, with the Council of Europe, the Council of Europe Development Bank and WHO Regional Office for Europe.
The European Commission, DG Sanco, has been an active observer since 2005.
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