Promoting Health and Wellbeing towards 2030: taking the Ottawa Charter forward in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030
EuroHealthNet’s Call on promoting health for a more social and sustainable society
EuroHealthNet is launching a statement on the role and contribution of health promotion to achieving sustainable development and social progress – and thereby greater health and wellbeing in the coming decade. The call comes in the wake of the 30th anniversary of the WHO Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, which provided the EuroHealthNet partnership with an opportunity to reflect on how the values and approaches it embraces can be applied in the context of our present day challenges.
The Health Promotion Statement – Promoting Health and Wellbeing towards 2030: taking the Ottawa Charter Forward in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda 2030 – presents the REJUVENATE Framework: Ten steps to promote health in a rapidly changing world to create a healthier, more equitable and sustainable future.
The Statement presents top ten approaches by which health promotion can contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Urgent discussion is needed on how to transform these SDGs into concrete policies, strategies and practices, at all levels of government in Europe. For example, the potential EU Pillar of Social Rights and the opportunities it presents to act on the “causes of the causes of ill health” and improve the wellbeing of European citizens is extremely relevant and its implementation will be supported by the health promotion community, as reflected by the Statement.
Nicoline Tamsma, EuroHealthNet’s President: “As the leading European partnership for improving health, equity and well-being we call on international, national and local leadership to rejuvenate health promoting values and efforts. The 30th anniversary of the WHO Ottawa Charter, the UN 2030 Agenda and the potential EU Pillar of Social Rights are all important opportunities to step up action and commitment across policies and to foster sustainable health promoting systems and societies.’
Caroline Costongs, Managing Director at EuroHealthNet, adds: “Tackling the increasing health and social inequalities requires a multi-sectoral and across-society approach which is one of the core principles of the EuroHealthNet Statement made by our partners and members. In this light, we hope that the discussions on the EU Pillar of Social Rights at the EMPL Committee of the European Parliament today will acknowledge health equity as a key EU policy priority.”
The EuroHealthNet Health Promotion Statement is available here
The background document for the statement is available here
