As part of its advocacy strategy, the Health Cluster has identified improving the protection of health care providers and service users in crisis-affected contexts as key change area. Attacks on health staff, facilities and transport result in large loss of life and injuries, as well as constraints on the delivery of services within populations, and access to services by populations.

This is in line with WHO's Attacks on Health Care Initiative that aims at ensuring that essential life-saving health services are provided to emergency-affected populations unhindered by any form of violence or obstruction.

The Health Cluster has agreed on the following specific objectives to bring about change in this area:

• To promote and embed in practice the standardization and reporting of attacks on health care providers and users, in partner operations, at country level;
• To develop advocacy plans at local and national levels to increase protection of heath care providers and users at country level in conjunction with WHO;
• To champion the protection of health care providers and users at country, regional and global levels, in conjunction with WHO.