An intercountry meeting on strengthening of surveillance and response capacities under the IHR was held in Beirut, Lebanon, from 26 to 28 March 2012. All IHR national focal points were invited to share country experiences and challenges in the building of surveillance and response capacities required for implementation of IHR (2005). Following presentations, four working groups met on topics contributing to building and sustaining surveillance and response capacities including: identification of strengths and weaknesses in surveillance and response capacities; role of global and regional networks; requirements of surveillance at points of entry; and human resources for surveillance and response.