Building a resilient world together: the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body for pandemic …
10 October 2023 – In December 2021, at its second-ever special session, the World Health Assembly took a significant step by establishing an Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) tasked with drafting and negotiating a convention, agreement or other international instrument under the constitution of the World Health Organization (WHO). This historic endeavour aims to strengthen global pandemic prevention, preparedness and response efforts. The INB’s mission is firmly grounded in the principles of inclusiveness, transparency, efficiency, Member State leadership and consensus.
This historic endeavour represents a unified commitment by WHO Member States to collaborate on a global scale. The world’s past experiences have shown that facing challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitates international cooperation, transcending isolationism and nationalism. The stark reality is that nobody is safe until everyone is safe. Understanding this, the 194 Member States have resolved to work together towards the development of a new international instrument for pandemic preparedness and response.
This commitment signifies a critical milestone in raising pandemic preparedness to the highest political level. Rooted in WHO’s constitution, the envisioned agreement has the potential to reinforce existing international health instruments, particularly the International Health Regulations. It will serve as a solid foundation upon which to build and improve our collective pandemic response efforts.
One key aspect of this effort is fostering an all-of-government and all-of-society approach. This involves strengthening the capacities and resilience of countries, regions and the world at large to effectively combat future pandemics. Achieving this may involve substantial international collaboration, including the improvement of alert systems,