WHO EMRO
- ️Administrator
Saving lives through inclusion
Chamber orchestra of Al Nour Wal Amal Association play at WHO’s Regional Office to celebrate the International Day for Disaster Reduction 24 October 2013 – The Kuwait Conference Hall at WHO’s Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean was transformed into a concert hall as the Chamber Orchestra of Al Nour Wal Amal Association charmed the audience with its classical music repertoire to celebrate International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR).
This year’s Day focused on highlighting the key contributions that people living with disabilities can make to reduce the risk of disasters in their communities and build resilient societies. As part of the celebration to mark the Day, the chamber orchestra of 40 women with visual impairment, performed a number of classical music pieces. Artwork by young people with intellectual disabilities from the Special Abilities Group of the Resala Organization was also on display.
“Despite being visually impaired, the musicians have the ability to memorise and master any new piece of music in only four days,” said the orchestra’s conductor, Dr Ali Othman. Shahnaz Salah, 27, a member of the orchestra, started her musical journey at the age of 7 in El Nour Wal Amal school for children with visual impairment, where students are taught music in addition to their academic school classes.
EMHJ introduces an online submission and peer review system
23 October 2013 – The Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal (EMHJ) is pleased to announce that it has introduced a web-based submission and peer review system (Editorial Manager), which is in operation as of 20 October, 2013. We are now inviting all authors to submit their manuscripts through this system.
Editorial Manager is a well-established system and is used by over 3000 journals. It provides an easy, user-friendly mechanism for authors to submit and track their manuscripts and reviewers to deliver their review comments on line.
Editorial Manager is secure and protected by passwords so that authors see only their own papers and reviewers see only those they assigned to review. Peer review will continue to be double-blinded so the identities of authors and reviewers are not known to each other and all reviewer comments are confidential. Manuscripts can be submitted in Arabic, English and French, the three languages in which EMHJ publishes. It is anticipated that this system will streamline the workflow of the EMHJ and increase transparency and speed in processing for the benefit of both authors and reviewers.
The 60th Session of the Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean to be held in Muscat, Oman, on 27–30 October 2013
Cairo, 17 October 2013 - The 60th session of the WHO Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean will be inaugurated on 27 October 2013 in Muscat, Oman. Functioning as WHO’s governing body at the regional level, the Regional Committee consists of representatives of all Member States of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.
The meeting will address a range of important health issues representing priorities for the 22 countries of the Region. Participating in the discussions are Ministers of Health, representatives of national, regional and international organizations and agencies concerned with health, as well as experts from WHO headquarters and the Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The opening session will be inaugurated by Mr Bahar Idris Abu Garda, Chair of the 59th session of the Regional Committee, Dr Ala Alwan, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, and Dr Ahmed Bin Mohamed Bin Obaid Al Saidi, Minister of Health of Oman, the host country. Her Royal Highness, Princess Muna Al-Hussein, WHO Patron of Nursing and Midwifery in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, will deliver the keynote speech during the opening session.