The Regional nursing forum: the future of nursing and midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, was organized by the World Health Organization (WHO) in Amman, Jordan, on 24 April 2015 under the leadership of Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and the patronage of HRH Muna Al Hussein, WHO Patron for Nursing and Midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
Forty three participants attended the forum, including selected key chief nursing and midwifery officers from Member States and from other regions, health and nursing advisers to HRH Princess Muna, key international nongovernmental organizations (International Council of Nurses, International Confederation of Midwives), international experts, WHO collaborating centres, representatives of the regulatory councils and accrediting bodies, representatives from the Gulf Cooperation Council nursing technical committee, field nursing officers from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, staff from WHO headquarters and the Regional Office.
The participants were charged to discuss priority areas and recommend strategies regarding how nurses and midwives can best lead in order to meet the challenges in the health and social context facing the Region in the next 15 years (2015–2030).
The specific objectives of the forum were to:
- share the current status of nursing and midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region based on the findings of the Eastern Mediterranean nursing and midwifery survey;
- present successful experiences and good practices in strengthening nursing and midwifery governance, education, practice and services;
- identify and suggest solutions to the constraints and bottlenecks impeding implementation of the nursing and midwifery strategic directions (2012–2020);
- develop consensus on and, where necessary, update, the regional strategic directions for nursing and midwifery to guide actions related to nursing and midwifery resources and services development from 2015–2030.