History
The Asia Pacific Regional Forum on Health and the Environment was established in 2004 in recognition of the threat that environmental hazards pose to human health. The Regional Forum seeks to create greater synergy among relevant government departments to address environmental and health issues. The Regional Forum was initially established among ministers of health and environmental sectors in 10 ASEAN countries and 4 East Asian countries, namely China, Japan, Korea and Mongolia. WHO South-East Asia Regional Office (SEARO), WHO Western Pacific Regional Office (WPRO) and UNEP Asia and Pacific Office (ROAP) support the Regional Forum as joint International Secretariats. In 2016, it was agreed to open the membership to all member states of SEARO, WPRO and ROAP.
The Regional Forum is to provide a platform of cooperation and collaboration between the health and environment sectors at the regional and country levels in terms of 1) sharing knowledge and experiences; 2) advocating for measures, policies and actions to protect the health and well-being caused by environmental risk factors; and 3) to promote other sectors such as transport, education, energy, trade and others to place the health of people at the heart of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), Paris Agreement, Minamata Conventions and other International Conventions and Regional Initiatives.
The member countries serve the Chair of the Regional Forum on a voluntary basis. The past and present Chairs are as follows:
- Thailand (2007-2010)
- Korea (2010-2013)
- Malaysia (2013-2016)
- Philippines (2016-2019)
- Indonesia (2020-2024)
So far, 4 Ministers Meetings (MMs) and 10 High-level Officials Meetings (HLOMs) have been held. The latest Ministers Meeting held in 2016 in Manila, Philippines was attended by 34 countries and administrative regions. 11 HLOM is expected in 2023 and 5 MM is expected in 2024.
The Regional Forum encourages the member states to develop and implement cost-effective National Environmental Health Action Plans. Some countries have developed national activities and obtained external assistances to the relevant activities such as awareness raising.
Current setting
Reformulation of the Regional Forum in 2016 streamlines the implementation structure to simpler and flexible. The member countries are supported by the Secretariat to interact with the knowledge networks for their priority topics. The TWGs which are inhouse subsidiary bodies run by the TWG Chairs selected by the Regional Forum.
The Regional Forum is open to collaborate with new and existing initiatives to enhance the impact by creating synergy and avoiding redundancy and duplication of works.
The Thematic working groups (TWGs) are the main drivers and define the value of the Regional Forum. The TWGs composed of representatives from member states to address specific priority issues and areas to be addressed in the Regional Forum. Membership of the TWGs would be open to all member states. Representatives from the private sector, academia, civil society, occupational groups, regional centres, institutions, and other regional and global initiatives tackling a particular priority issue and/or area may also be invited to become part of a TWG subject to a process of due diligence led by the Secretariat, with confirmation by the Regional Forum. TWGs have led by the TWG Chairs and undertaken various activities including:
- Workshops and trainings to disseminate information and provide learning opportunities,
- Policy briefs and guidelines development,
- Surveys and monitoring plan.
In addition, the Regional Forum will collaborate with existing and new regional initiatives and institutions on health-environment nexus.
