Strengthening preparedness for public health emergencies is essential to protect communities and ensure resilient health systems. In this context, on 9–10 April 2026, Türkiye will convene its first Joint External Evaluation (JEE) Orientation Workshop, marking an important milestone in the country’s ongoing preparations for its first JEE under the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005).
A JEE is a voluntary, collaborative and multisectoral process that helps countries to assess their capacities to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to public health threats. As part of the IHR Monitoring and Evaluation Framework, the JEE complements existing assessment approaches by supporting a broader systems-level review of preparedness capacities across sectors.
The workshop will bring together technical focal points and representatives from key institutions and sectors involved in IHR implementation and emergency preparedness to build a shared understanding of the JEE methodology, process and tool, to align expectations and to review relevant findings through a systems lens to identify cross-cutting strengths, gaps and priorities. The outcome of the workshop will be a shared agreement on focal point roles and responsibilities, coordination arrangements and a decision on the concrete next steps to complete the JEE self-assessment phase.
The workshop will serve to initiate the operational preparation of a coordinated, country-led and multisectoral JEE process in Türkiye, aligned with national priorities and existing preparedness structures.
Organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Health of Türkiye and with the technical support of WHO Türkiye and the WHO Regional Office of Europe, the workshop reflects a shared commitment to strengthening health emergency preparedness and multisectoral collaboration for health security.
The JEE Orientation Workshop is co-funded by the European Union through the EU4Health programme.