Distinguished representatives from Member States
Representatives from
- Emergency Medical Teams
- the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network
- Health Emergency Operations Centre networks
- Field Epidemiology Training Programs
Technical Experts
Partners, and colleagues
A very good morning to you all.
In the WHO South-East Asia Region, emergencies are not exceptional events.
They are a recurring feature of the public health landscape, and our people depend on health systems that must be ready when these emergencies strike.
That readiness is tested constantly: by outbreaks; by earthquakes, floods and other natural disasters; by humanitarian emergencies.
We have always responded to these situations with resilience and solidarity.
But they have also shown us where surge capacity fails; where coordination breaks down; where interoperability is lacking; and where leadership must be improved.
One lesson is clear: a strong, connected, and rapidly deployable health emergency workforce is essential.
Last year, at the Seventy-eighth Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, we launched the WHO South-East Asia Regional Health Emergency Workforce Strategy 2025–2030.
Since then, our WHO Headquarters has launched the Global Health Emergency Corps Strategy—reinforcing at the global level the same commitment we first made here in the Region.
Together, these initiatives provide an architecture for a health emergency workforce that is ready, robust, and responsive.
One that can prevent, detect, or respond to emergencies—according to the need of the hour.
That is the foundation on which this workshop is built, as we move from strategy to implementation.
During the next three days, you will work through practical approaches to operationalizing the strategy at country level.
You will strengthen collaboration across key emergency workforce networks, including EMTs, GOARN, HEOC networks, FETPs and other operational partnerships.
This is the moment to put the “network of networks” vision into practice.
Health emergencies cannot be managed in silos.
They require connected leadership, interoperable systems and coordinated surge capacities.
They need multidisciplinary teams that can work across sectors and borders.
The platforms in this room are precisely that network, for collaboration and for collective action.
This workshop is aligned with the WHO SEAR Regional Roadmap for Results and Resilience Framework and the Global Health Emergency Corps initiative.
But alignment alone is not enough. What matters most is what we implement.
Your experience and leadership are central as countries begin developing implementation of roadmaps and identifying priorities for regional collaboration.
I encourage you to engage actively. Share what has worked, and what has not.
The solutions that await South-East Asia—scalable, realistic and sustainable—will be found in your knowledge, in your experiences, and through your leadership.
I wish you productive discussions and look forward to the recommendations that emerge from these deliberations.
Thank you.