International Council of Nurses brings nursing voice to UN General Assembly

The nursing voice is being brought to the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) by the International Council of Nurses (ICN).

Dr Michelle Acorn, ICN’s Chief Nurse, Dr Gill Adynski, ICN Nursing & Health Policy Analyst and Dr. Holly Shaw, ICN’s Representative at the United Nations Economic and Social Council and an Associate Professor at Adelphi University are attending several meetings during the UNGA, which is being held from 20-26 September 2022. UNGA is the main policy-making organ of the United Nations. Comprising all 193 Member States, it provides a unique forum for multilateral discussion of the full spectrum of international issues covered by the Charter of the United Nations.

On 20 September, ICN attended networking sessions with partner organisations, including the Jhpiego meeting Rx for Primary Health Care: A People-First Prescription; the Johnson & Johnson meeting Stories from the Heart of Health; and the 100-year anniversary celebration of the International Confederation of Midwives. ICN will also meet with CGFNS International, Sigma Theta Tau and the Conference on Non-governmental Organisations in Consultative Relationship with the United Nations (CoNGO).

Today, ICN will attend the high-level meeting to mark the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Persons Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities. This is a topic of great importance to ICN as nurses are active in raising awareness of health disparities within minority populations. We believe that optimizing understandable and informed health care between patients and providers through communication strategies, support and resources can reduce language barriers and improve safety. ICN is calling for nurses and other health professions to reflect on ethically recruiting and retaining more minorities into their profession and advancing more minority nurses into leadership positions in healthcare.

At the Global Clinton Initiative (CGI), which was convened alongside the UNGA, The BD Foundation announced its support of the ICN’s Organizational Development of National Nurses Association (ODENNA). Read here for more.

Download the communique here