Drafting Group Finishes Framework On WHO And Outside Actors

If adopted as expected tomorrow by the World Health Assembly, a framework guiding the relationships between the World Health Organization and outside actors will be the first of its kind in the United Nations system, according to sources.

The draft resolution is available here [pdf].

Applause resonated in Room XXIV of the United Nations Palais this afternoon when after a week of closed discussions, delegates agreed on a draft framework of engagement with non-state actors, including a draft WHO policy and operational procedures on engagement with non-governmental organisations, a draft WHO policy and operational procedures on engagement with private sector entities, and a resolution to be adopted by the WHA.

The resolution on the framework is expected to be available tomorrow morning. It will first go to committee A of the Assembly, the to the full closing plenary for final approval. The 69^th World Health Assembly is taking place from 23-28 May.

According to sources, the text of the framework was agreed upon yesterday but the language of the resolution to be taken by the WHA tomorrow was at issue, in particular the part concerning conflicts of interest (IPW, Public Health, 27 May 2016).

Attached here [pdf] is the text as it stood as of the early hours of 27 May. It shows the text of the framework entirely cleared and the resolution still being worked on.

The chair of the drafting group, Julio Mercado of Argentina, said the group was very happy at the end. Asked by Intellectual Property Watch what was the issue on the conflict of interest, he said the framework is meant to manage the risk as WHO’s engagement with non-state actors is growing. “We needed to give the organisation some guidance to manage the risk,” he said.

The key in this process of negotiations, said Mercado, was that everybody has something to say. “We let everyone say what they had to say, we listened to each other, and then we tried to manage the concerns.”

According to Mercado, the adoption of the framework is not expected to dramatically change the way WHO conducts its activities.

The resolution includes a principle of phased approach, he said, because the organisation has to go through some adjustments. The change cannot happen overnight, he said. The resolution is prescriptive enough to provide guidance to the secretariat to implement the framework.

At the close of the meeting, some sources told Intellectual Property Watch that the text is not perfect but is a good step forward.

A source said that this is the first such framework in the UN system, and as such, is already an achievement. The framework comes with a review mechanism, oversight and evaluation, sources said, so it can be amended during implementation.

Image Credits: William New