This is a hybrid event with English-French translation online and in person.

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 be held 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.