For the second time, the Republic of Moldova has volunteered to undertake a Joint External Evaluation (JEE) of its implementation of the International Health Regulations (IHR, 2005). The mission will take place on 16–20 March 2026 in Chișinău and will bring together 15 international technical experts from multiple countries, technical institutions and international organizations. Working in dialogue with national experts, the team will evaluate Moldova’s capacity to prevent, detect and rapidly respond to public health threats.
A JEE is a voluntary, collaborative, multisectoral process used to assess a country’s capacities to manage public health risks, whether they occur naturally or result from deliberate or accidental events. It helps countries identify the most critical gaps across human and animal health systems and prioritize actions to strengthen preparedness and response. During the mission, recommendations will be developed to support Moldova in further strengthening health emergency preparedness and response capacities.
The JEE is facilitated by WHO and is an important element of WHO support to Member States to better prepare for, prevent, detect and respond to outbreaks and other health emergencies. WHO remains a strong partner of the Government of the Republic of Moldova in advancing national and global health security, protecting vulnerable populations and helping to keep the world safe.
Moldova conducted its first JEE in 2018 and will be the sixth of the 55 States Parties to the IHR (2005) in the WHO European Region to undertake a second JEE.
The second JEE in Moldova is funded by the Pandemic Fund, a multistakeholder partnership developed by the World Bank in close collaboration with WHO. The technical expertise provided for the JEE is co-funded by the European Union through the EU4Health programme.