It also provides expert advice to Council, the Professional Nursing Committee and the Trade Union Committee on the delivery of our international strategy.

Find out more about the role and remit of the International Committee by reading the terms of reference.

Key messages from the September meeting:

Cultural Awareness Training for Reps

The Committee received a presentation from the Activism Academy on cultural awareness training for RCN Reps. This training now includes a reflective component and integrates equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) principles across all learning. The Committee welcomed these developments as part of strengthening rep and member support.

Congress Resolutions

Two resolutions passed at Congress 2025 have been allocated to the International Committee. These resolutions will guide future work, and updates on progress will be shared in upcoming meetings.

Support for Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs)

The Committee reviewed RCN-wide initiatives supporting IENs. Attendance at webinars designed for internationally educated nurses has been high, demonstrating strong engagement and the importance of tailored resources for this group.

Policy and Immigration

The Committee discussed the government’s proposed changes to immigration policy and the direct impact on nursing. Members expressed concern and reaffirmed support for the RCN’s advocacy work to influence policy decisions that protect the nursing workforce and ensure fair treatment for internationally educated professionals.

RCN Fellows Global Health Engagement

Feedback from the recent RCN Fellows Global Health Engagement Day was positive. The Committee supports greater integration of Fellows into the College’s international work, recognising their expertise and leadership in global health.

Global Health Funding Constraints

The Committee received a briefing on reduced official development assistance funding from the government, which is limiting global health partnerships and affecting projects coordinated through the International Nursing Academy. Members urged exploration of sustainable income streams and alternative funding models to maintain this vital work.

International Nursing Academy – In-Country Programmes

Updates were provided on programmes delivered through the International Nursing Academy. These initiatives aim to strengthen nursing globally through collaboration and partnership working, reinforcing the RCN’s commitment to international engagement.

International Alliances and Relationships

The Committee reviewed a paper on the RCN’s international alliances and relationships, highlighting the importance of maintaining strong global connections to support nursing and healthcare development worldwide.

Strategic Review of Congress

The Committee welcomed updates on the Strategic Review of Congress, particularly the inclusion of considerations around which entities can submit agenda items, ensuring a more inclusive and representative process.

Key messages from the February meeting:

Internationally educated nursing staff (IEN): The Committee received a comprehensive update on the work being done across the RCN to support internationally educated nurses and also hear how the College had established a dedicated workstream to focus on the following key areas: policy & legislative objectives, employer accountability & ending exploitation, member recruitment, professional engagement & member activism. 

IEN policy programme: The Committee received an update on the progress of the Congress 2024 item to lobby UK Government on the impact of immigration regulations, including information on an RCN survey that has been conducted and expected delivery of findings.  

Exploitation in the care sector: The Employment Relations Department updated the Committee that the RCN had begun looking at a campaign around ending exploitation and that the RCN was also looking to create training sessions for Reps, Regional Officers and Senior Regional Officers on how to identify and escalate exploitation.  

Public affairs update: The International Policy Manager informed the Committee of the Labour Party election promise of an investigation into exploitation as part of Employment Rights Bill, which was not set up until April. The RCN had been clear that this could not wait until April and earlier action was necessary. 

Freedom of Information (FOI) requests submitted by the RCN reveal that the Government had allocated funding to local authorities to tackle unethical recruitment issues. It was noted that because this information was not public the RCN was unable to evaluate the effectiveness of those schemes and so the College is working to secure a debate on this in Parliament. 

The Committee also agreed the need for a stakeholder event and agreed that the Secretary of State could be invited. 

International Aid/Global Health Programmes funding: There was an emergency discussion on the implications of the USA withdrawing from the WHO for nursing worldwide and for RCN international priorities. The Committee discussed the potential implications and agreed to make WHO and global aid funding an agenda item for the May meeting. 

RCN project updates: The Committee also reviewed the latest draft of the RCN Humanitarian Framework which has been revised. 

International alliances and relationships: The Committee was informed that the RCN’s Emily McWhirter had been appointed to the Board of the International Council of Nurses and Lynn Woolsey had been appointed to the Board of the Commonwealth Nurses and Midwives Federation.  

Definition of member involvement: The Committee was given a presentation on definition of member involvement as part of a consultation on the definition recommended by the Governance Committee.  

Meet the International Committee

Bejoy Sebastian, Chair (RCN President)

January 2025 - December 2026

Bejoy Sebastian is a senior nurse working in critical care at University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He has previously held a number of positions at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. Hailing from Kerala, he arrived in the UK in March 2011 after finishing his nursing studies at Kottayam Medical College.

He was the Chair of the International Nursing and Midwifery Association network UK, where he has raised the profile of internationally educated nursing staff, helping them thrive in their careers and identifying the barriers they face in the workplace. He was also the founding General Secretary of the Alliance of Senior Kerala Nurses. He is an active volunteer for DKMS and with the help of Upahaar UK has organised numerous stem cell donor registration drives from global majority backgrounds to reduce the health inequities faced by them.

He began his role as RCN President in January 2025 and will serve for two years.

Professor Judith Ellis OBE FRCN, Vice Chair

January 2026 - December 2029

Professor Judith Ellis OBE FRCN has been a member of the RCN for 44 year and has held various senior nursing positions in the UK, including as Director of Nursing and Workforce Development at Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital, Dean/ Pro Vice Chancellor for Health at London South Bank University and Nursing Officer for Quality at the UK Department of Health. She has been involved for 22 years in the improvement of nurse education and multidisciplinary paediatric care in low-income countries, and when a Council member and then Interim Chair of the Nursing and Midwifery Council played a vital role in considering the international need for nursing regulation and the transferability of nursing registration. Judith retired from her role as Chief Executive of the medical Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) in 1998 to allow her to concentrate on her role as Chair of the Tropical Health and Education Trust (THET), a charity that establishes partnerships between health workers around the world, recognizing the mutual benefit to health workers and health systems of engaging in international activity. Her 6 year tenure as Chair of THET ended in December 2021, but as an Honorary Advisor for THET and Honorary Fellow of the RCPCH, Judith is continuing to advise on international nursing issues and to actively engage each week in supporting beleaguered nursing colleagues in Myanmar and to support paediatric leadership development in Africa.

Ruqia Bi, Student member

January 2026 - December 2027

Biography to follow.

Professor Kevin Davies MBE

January 2026 - December 2029

Biography to follow.

Dr Dilla Davis

January 2026 - December 2029

Biography to follow.  

Tendai Gwenhure

January 2026 - December 2029

Biography to follow.

Dr Gordon Hill

January 2026 - December 2029

Biography to follow. 

Dr Agimol Pradeep BEM

March 2023 - December 2026

Agimol completed her nursing studies in India. She has been working in NHS care settings since 2001. She is also a philanthropist to promote Black and Asian Minority Ethnic (BAME) organ and stem cell donation awareness. Agimol was successful in achieving funding from the British Renal Society in 2011 to complete her PhD on the topic of “Increasing organ donation in the North West South Asian community through targeted education.” Her PhD implemented a positive impact by understanding South Asians' attitudes and their health behaviours and beliefs and implementing targeted education to change their beliefs and attitudes towards organ donation. She has been working closely with NHSBT in her volunteer capacity since 2010 and remains as a steering group member for the Community Investment Scheme. Her contribution to the community in promoting the organ donation message was recognised nationally, and she received the British Empire Medal (BEM) in 2018 and Nurse of the Year in 2015 from the British Journal of Nursing.

Agimol initiated the campaign in 2020 to support Internationally Educated Nurses (IEN’s) working in the UK as unregistered practitioners. She played a key role in implementing the Supporting Information from Employer (SIFE) pathway by the NMC in February 2023, to enable the IEN’s to complete their UK registration and remain as the NMC’s Expert Advisory Group member of the English Language Review Group.

Melisa Rabska

January 2026 - December 2029

Biography to follow. 

Professor Jane Salvage FRCN

March 2023 - December 2026

Jane is passionate about helping nurses and midwives to become articulate, effective and influential in all aspects of health and social care, education, research and policy. Her commitment to social justice, women’s rights and high quality health services has been the main driver of her unusual career. Jane's best-known book, The Politics of Nursing (Heinemann 1985), was a wake-up call to nurses to speak out on sexism and racism, and she continued this advocacy in her roles as editor-in-chief of Nursing Times.

Jane was chief nurse at the World Health Organization (European Region and Headquarters). She worked on the Prime Minister’s Commission on the Future of Nursing and Midwifery in England (2010), and the Willis Commission on Nursing Education (RCN 2012). From 2016-2021 she was programme director of the International Council of Nurses’ Global Nursing Leadership Institute. She has designed and directed nursing policy leadership programmes for the World Health Organization; the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care; and in many countries including Belize, Italy, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia and the Government of India/WHO. She co-authored Triple Impact (2016), the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health report on nursing worldwide which led to the Nursing Now campaign and the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife. She works as an independent nursing and midwifery leadership consultant, and as visiting professor at Kingston University, London.

Kathy Sienko

March 2023 - December 2026

Biography to follow.

Jason Warriner

March 2023 - December 2026

Jason is Director of Care, Quality and Governance at Cranstoun, a charity providing services tackling substance misuse. Across the course of his career Jason has worked within the NHS and charity sector at clinical, operational and strategic levels. He has held a number of roles within the RCN including Vice Chair of RCN Congress and Chair of Chairs for RCN Professional Forums, and in 2017 received the RCN Award of Merit. Jason’s international experience includes work in South Africa, Abu Dhabi and Germany.

Yusuf Yousuf, Nursing Support Worker member

January 2026 - December 2029

Biography to follow.