The Association Internationale de la Mutualité and its partners the Mutuelle de la Fonction Publique du Burundi (MFP), the Plateforme de concertation des Acteurs des Mutuelles de Santé au Burundi (PAMUSAB), the Fédération Nationale de la Mutualité Française, the PASS Programme and the MASMUT Programme, under the sponsorship of the Burundese Ministry of National Solidarity, Social Affairs, Human Rights and Gender, are pleased to announce that the Bujumbura International Mutualist Conference will beheld on 3 and 4 February 2025. The conference will be held face-to-face as well as online under the title “Targeting health coverage and universal social protection in Africa – Relying on mutuals as key players in the social and solidarity economy”.

The Bujumbura conference is a continuation of the commitments made by AIM to encourage and support the development of mutual health organisations in Africa in order to meet the challenge of enrolling populations on a sustainable basis in strong, accessible and high-quality health and social protection systems. We note that the Dakar Declaration and the Lomé Platform have strengthened mutuals as an interlocutor of the public authorities within civil society and the social and solidarity economy in the context of the adoption of plans to achieve universal health cover and social protection. However, concrete progress towards operationalising the role of mutuals in extending or ensuring people’s access to social health protection is still not uniform. In some countries, there have been no major changes to the legal framework, which represents a missed opportunity for the population.

The event will also be held in a specific international context. The Resolutions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) concerning decent work and the social and solidarity economy and of the United Nations promoting the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development include clear calls for governments to give the mutualist movement the opportunity to play a leading role in the social economy, in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. The recent Conclusions of the ILO’s work on decent work and the care economy also recognise the role of social economy entities in the delivery of health care. The European Union has also adopted its Global Health Strategy, which recognises that the progress made towards universal health coverage has been wiped out by the COVID-19 crisis.

In view of the context described above and the continuing challenges faced by the population and the mutualist movement, the objectives of the conference are as follows:

• Reaffirming the importance of achieving universal health coverage on the African continent;
• Take note of developments since 2022 and the Dakar Declaration and since 2019 and the Lomé Platform;
• Use the content of the Resolutions of the International Labour Organisation and the United Nations Organisation to amplify advocacy at national level.

The target audience is the Burundian, African and international mutualist movement, Burundian national policy-makers, representatives of international organisations, representatives of development agencies and donors, as well as the African Union.
Join us for this event! Please register by filling in the invitation form here. English-French translation online and in person will be foreseen in the auditorium. Your contact at the AIM Secretariat: aim.secretariat@aim-mutual.org.

AIM Secretariat
aim.secretariat@aim-mutual.org
www.aim-mutual.org