A working group headed by Liu Baochun, Director General of the Foreign Affairs Office of the Guangzhou Municipal Government, visited the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) in Geneva, Switzerland on Feb 28.

Doctor Carlos Dora, working at the Department of Public Health, Environmental and Social Determinants of Health (PHE) under the WHO, and several staff members met with the delegation on the morning of Feb 28.

The delegation visits the World Health Organization on Feb 28.

Doctor Carlos Dora expressed his interests in the Guangzhou International Award for Urban Innovation (the Guangzhou Award) after an introduction to the Award given by Director General Liu. “We will encourage more cities to take part in urban health  projects through the WHO platform.” Dr. Dora said. He also invited Guangzhou to join the BreathLife Campaign initiated by the department.

The delegation visits the International Labor Organization on Feb 28. 

In the afternoon, the delegation visited the ILO to exchange ideas with several officials, including Mr. Anita Amorim, the Head of Partnerships and Field Support Department of the ILO, Mr. Pierre Martinot-Lagarde, ILO’s special adviser, and Mr. Edmundo de Werna, Senior Consultant of the ILO’s Labor Inspection and Occupational Safety and Health Branch. They praised the Guangzhou government for its contribution to promoting worldwide urban innovation and expressed their wishes for further communication with United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG) and the Guangzhou government to explore urban innovative practices especially on employment and social security.                  

WHO was founded in 1948 and is dedicated to international public health. The ILO was founded in 1919 and deals primarily with international labor standards. Both agencies are affiliated with the United Nations.