As Sigma’s UN Liaison team, we have the pleasure of bringing the voice of nurses to the highest levels of decision-making and sharing what we learn with Sigma members. The General Assembly is the main policy-making organ of the United Nations. Each year in September, member states, world leaders, politicians, civil society, philanthropic organizations, and the private sector convene in New York for the big diplomatic meeting. The theme of the 78th session was Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, and progress and the sustainability of all. This session was specifically important as it marked the half-way point to the deadline set for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The multiple and interlocking crises we have faced over the years have stalled (and in some cases reduced) progress toward achieving the SDG targets.
The General Assembly was an opportunity for all actors to recommit to a new phase of accelerated progress towards the SDGs. Attendees conducted comprehensive reviews of the state of SDGs and actively sought solutions to transform and accelerate actions. World leaders adopted a political declaration reaffirming their commitment to achieve and accelerate the SDGs.
The summit also involved six Leaders’ Dialogues—each focused on a key theme informed by the Secretary General’s Progress Towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet and the 2023 Global Sustainable Development Report. Heads of states and governments, intergovernmental organizations, and civil society organizations joined together to discuss the following topics:
- Scaling up actions on key transitions to accelerate SDG progress
- Building resilience and leaving no one behind
- Applying science, technology, innovation, and data for transformative action
- Strengthening integrated policies and public institutions for achieving the SDGs
- Strengthening the multilateral system for enhanced support, cooperation and follow-up, and review of the SDGs
- Mobilizing finance and investments and the means of implementation for SDG achievement
Patrick attended the Leaders’ Dialogues on the last two themes noted above. Heads of state, presidents, prime ministers, and representatives of member states each provided statements on the work their countries are doing to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs and the importance of taking a whole-of-society approach. Discussions also focused on the need to reform international financing architecture to support and fast-track the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (a framework developed in 2015 to finance sustainable development). Countries supported the Secretary General’s proposal for an SDG stimulus to support developing countries’ progress towards the SDGs. This includes a minimum of US $500 billion per year to provide debt relief, establish mechanisms for long-term financing, and expand contingency financing for countries that are in need.
It was unusual this year that there were three high-level meetings, and we were pleased to be selected to attend and deliver interventions at all three on behalf of nurses globally.
Mercy attended the high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPPR), and was selected to deliver our intervention. We called for member states and all stakeholders to ensure that nurses and health workers are placed at the center of future pandemic prevention and preparedness responses. This begins with ensuring that there is meaningful engagement and consultation with nursing leadership in the development of the new pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response instruments and that the protection, safety, and support of nurses and healthcare workers are embedded into all aspects of local, regional, and global responses to health emergencies.
We also reminded all in attendance that nurses work in all corners of society and serve as critical facilitators between healthcare professionals, civil society, governments, researchers, and corporations. It is not enough to simply thank nurses for their service and dedication to the profession. The expertise of nurses MUST be leveraged to improve global cooperation, strengthen collective action and accountability, enable stronger mobilization of research and innovation, and ensure health systems are responsive to deliver efficient and effective integrated, person-centered care. World leaders also adopted a political declaration in support of greater collaboration and coordination to better prevent, prepare for, and respond to future pandemics. Our intervention calling for the intentional integration of nurses and nursing expertise in pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response strategies was very well received.
Patrick attended the high-level meeting on universal health coverage (UHC). This meeting provided a forum for all countries and partners to renew and reinvigorate their commitment to health for all. World leaders approved a new political declaration on “Universal Health Coverage: Expanding our ambition for health and well-being in a post-COVID world.” This new declaration serves as a tool to guide and mobilize national policy commitments and financial investments. The meeting involved an opening segment, a plenary segment, two multi-stakeholder panels, and a closing segment. The themes of the multi-stakeholder panels included what a primary healthcare approach is and why it matters and aligning our investments for health and well-being in a post-COVID world. Our intervention called on member states to protect, support, and invest in the health workforce. We reminded world leaders and partners within our health systems that UHC cannot be achieved without investing in respected nurses and fair pay and leveraging the expertise of nurses to engage in innovations for health system transformation.
Jerry attended the high-level meeting on tuberculosis (TB). The meeting focused on the theme: "Advancing science, finance and innovation, and their benefits, to urgently end the global tuberculosis epidemic, in particular, by ensuring equitable access to prevention, testing, treatment, and care." The main objective of the meeting was to implement a comprehensive review of progress in the context of the achievement of targets set in the 2018 political declaration and in the SDGs. Two panels took place, with member states and their delegations in attendance, including Heads-of-State, ministers from relevant ministries, parliamentarians, mayors, and governors of cities and states with a high burden of tuberculosis. Additionally, representatives from civil society, including non-governmental organizations, indigenous community leadership organizations, and faith-based organizations, as well as academia, philanthropic foundations, the private sector, and networks representing people affected by tuberculosis, participated in the panels.
The high-level meeting approved a concise and action-oriented political declaration, agreed in advance by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations which was submitted by the President of the General Assembly for adoption. Our intervention called on Member States (especially low- and middle-income countries) to strengthen their health systems to fight the disease. We urged Member States to invest in nurses to ensure an adequate number of well-educated healthcare professionals for TB prevention and treatment. We also asked Member States to commit to ending HIV by 2030 to accelerate the fight to end TB. Finally, we reminded Member States that nurses are the largest clinical providers of TB care globally; therefore, they need to include them in developing legislation, regulations, and policies that support the optimal use of the nursing workforce in TB programs.
We encourage nurses to engage with these important policy priorities individually and collectively. Sigma members can take action by reviewing the political declarations mentioned in this article and using them as a framework to guide their policy advocacy, research, education, and innovation efforts within their local and national contexts. Tackling these complex issues requires interdisciplinary and intersectoral partnerships. By working collaboratively with partners within and beyond the health sector, we can continue to galvanize sustained and bold political commitment towards a more healthy, sustainable world for all.
Patrick Chiu, PhD, RN, is a Certified Global Nurse Consultant and a member of Sigma’s Mu Sigma Chapter.
Mercy N. Mumba, PhD, RN, CMSRN, is an Associate Professor in the Capstone College of Nursing at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA. She is a member of Sigma’s Epsilon Omega Chapter.
Jerry John Nutor, PhD, RN, MS, is an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, and a member of Sigma’s Alpha Eta Chapter.