22 June 2022 – Today, The World Health Organization and the Ministry of Health of Oman have signed the country support plan for 2022–2023. The plan defines what the WHO secretariat will deliver at each of the 3 levels to support Oman achieve its priorities and results. The plan outlines the operations needed to achieve the goals of the Country Cooperation Strategy, the mid-term joint strategy. The signing ceremony was under the auspices of His Excellency Dr Hilal Bin Ali Al Sabti, Minister of Health, and took place at the main meeting hall at the Ministry of Health; the country support plan was co-signed by Dr Jean Jabbour, WHO Representative in Oman.
During the ceremony Dr Halima Al Hanaee, Director-General, Planning and Studies, gave a brief presentation highlighting WHO/Ministry of Health collaborative efforts and efforts to align the plan with the country’s national priorities outlined in the 10th five-year plan 2021–2025. Additionally, a demonstrative video showcased some of the implemented successful joint programmes, initiatives and activities contributing to achieving a measurable impact on people’s health at the country level.
Dr Jabbour expressed WHO’s appreciation of the efforts and Ministry support to operationalize the plan. He reiterated that it would significantly contribute towards achieving the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, the WHO Triple Billion Targets articulated in WHO's Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW 13) and regional Vision 2023, which aims to support countries’ ongoing efforts to move towards “Health for All by All” and achieve WHO’s global mandate. He continued by saying, “This bilateral plan that we are signing today is a key step, in the entire planning process which ensures that the work of all levels of the Organization is sharply focused on making an impact on people’s lives at a country level.”
The plan was developed in line with the main directions of the GPW13 and Oman’s national health priorities. It outlines how the results of the support provided by WHO will be measured and what are the resource requirements, in particular, human resource capacity and technical expertise, needed to deliver support from each level of the Organization. The plan will serve to articulate clearly what the entire Organization will do to support Oman to achieve its priorities and deliver the required impact at country level.