As WHO member states begin the final lap of intense negotiations on reforming the governance to health emergencies, the burden of expectations to reach an agreement in less than three months is getting acute.
Time is of essence and yet….
It is still not certain whether discussions at the forthcoming meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, will result in concrete negotiations. We are effectively at the doorstep of the May 2024 deadline.
It is baffling that at this late stage of these discussions towards a new pandemic agreement, the plan for next week appears to be unclear with many countries not having enough clarity on the modalities of the process as they head into the two-week marathon negotiations this month. At a briefing this week, the INB Bureau reportedly said that the upcoming meeting will aim to bring countries closer on conceptual issues and that text-based negotiations is expected during the subsequent INB meeting in March.
In this edition, we bring you a primer on the state of play in these discussions and also discuss text of the proposals that will be considered next week.