WHO EMT initiative: RKI hosts strategic EURO region meeting in Berlin (30-31 March 2023)

The WHO Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) initiative is structurally divided into six different "Regional Groups" representing the geographic WHO regions, under the central oversight of a Strategic Advisory Group (SAG). Regular meetings of the Regional Groups have proved instrumental in steering the direction of the initiative, upholding global standards of care in emergencies, and fostering collaboration and support from the various member states and partners of the network involved in EMT surge response. Since the last in-person meeting of the EURO Group in Brussels in 2018, the governance of the group, which consists of 53 countries from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific, has been provided by the Regional Chairmanship Group, based on a three-year term. Currently, the German EMT National Focal Point (EMT NFP), located at the RKI in ZIG 3 (Preparedness and Operations Support unit), chairs the Regional Chairmanship Group, along the NFPs of Belgium and Norway. In this function, the EMT NFP team hosted this year's European EMT Regional Group Meeting in Berlin from 30-31 March 2023, which was attended by 67 representatives from 25 countries.

Group picture of the meeting (Source: RKI)

The meeting took place against the backdrop of more than three years of COVID-19 response, as well as recent complex emergencies such as the Ukraine crisis and the earthquake in Türkiye and Syria - events that pose major challenges to the EMT initiative and require restructuring as well as diversification to be even further fit for purpose. Furthermore, the size and diversity of the EURO region call for a renewal of the governance structure more representative of the range of member states.

This structural renewal involves replacing the current Regional Chairmanship Group with a six-member Regional Steering Committee (RSC), which from 2024 onwards will act as a coordinating body between national, sub-regional and regional needs and global programs and priorities, but more horizontally oriented and with a larger and broader group of constituents. To achieve this, the RSC will be composed of governmental actors (National Focal Points/NFPs, as well as representatives of the EMTs, so-called Team Focal Points/TFPs) on the one hand and NGOs (exclusively TFPs) on the other, elected in a four-year cycle within the EURO Group. Two of the positions are to be filled by NGOs.

The aim of the meeting in Berlin was to discuss the new governance structure, including the role of NFPs and TFPs, to address the regional implementation of the "EMT Strategy 2030" already discussed at the Global Meeting 2022 in Armenia, and to exchange views on region-specific topics. In addition, the personal encounter was intended to strengthen the EMT network as well as the communication within the group.

Group discussions and presentations (Source: RKI)

The participants were on the one hand NFPs or designated NFPs of a large number of member states and on the other hand TFPs or delegates of EMT organizations, be they governmental or non-governmental. The third group consisted of representatives of further stakeholders such as European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG-ECHO), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) or the rescEU consortium led by the German organization Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe. The participants were completed by a large number of WHO representatives from the WHE Priority Territories (WHO Health Emergencies Programme) of the Balkan and Southern Caucasus hubs.

Overview of participants by functions, type of organization and countries (Source: RKI)

After introductory remarks by the director of the Centre for International Health Protection (ZIG), the Head of Division 612 at the German Federal Ministry of Health (Health Security/Crisis Management - international level), the head of the German National Focal Point at RKI as well as the WHO Regional Office for Europe, the first day of the meeting focused on the Strategy 2030, the discussion of the new governance structure as well as the exchange of experiences after the above mentioned recent emergencies Ukraine war and earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.

Day 2 focused on regionalization discussions as well as specific topics arising from recently gathered operational experience. The personal exchange in the moderated discussions was very lively and instructive for all sides. The discussions were supported by parallel online surveys, which proved to be an extremely helpful tool for gathering opinions and experiences.
In a next step, the meeting results will be summarized in a report and the adapted Regional EMT Governance Note will be presented to the EURO Group in a virtual meeting for approval. The final version is expected to be published by the end of May 2023.

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