In the aftermath of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 76th World Health Assembly, the pace of WHO negotiations on: 1) a pandemic treaty and 2) amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR) will intensify over the coming months. WHO’s informal list of intergovernmental meetings is published here: https://apps.who.int/gb/gov/en/intergovernmental-meeting_en.html.
On Monday, 5 June 2023, the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (the INB) will convene a briefing for Member States and relevant stakeholders from 10:00 – 12:00 hours CEST. According to the invitation, the “purpose of the Briefing is to brief Member States and relevant stakeholders on the Bureau’s text, as well as to provide a proposal from the Bureau on the modalities of the June drafting group meeting.” The invitation for “relevant stakeholders to join the Briefing is premised on the continued efforts of the Bureau to promote inclusivity and transparency in the work of the INB.” The Bureau’s text was published on 2 June 2023. It can be found here: https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb5/A_INB5_6-en.pdf.
On Monday afternoon, 5 June 2023, WHO will convene a virtual, informal meeting of Member States in preparation for the joint INB-WGIHR plenary meeting from 14:00 to 16:30 CEST.
On 12-16 June 2023, WHO will reconvene the 5th meeting and drafting group of the INB; the draft progam of work can be found here: https://apps.who.int/gb/inb/pdf_files/inb5/A_INB5_2Rev1-en.pdf. According to the draft program of work, the “INB will be invited to provide general comments on the Bureau’s text, starting with Member States and then relevant stakeholder (Source: Draft program of work, INB 5).
On 23 June 2023, WHO will convene an informational briefing on the Working Group on Amendments to the International Health Regulations (WHO) from 10:00 to 11:00 CEST.
On 26 June 2023, WHO will convene a facilitated informal consultation and briefing of the WGIHR. It is understood that this meeting will involve the African Group and Bangladesh coming together to hash out their Article 13A proposals for the IHR amendment process.
On 3 July 2023, WHO will convene informational briefing on the WGIHR from 10:00 to 12:00 CEST.
The 6th meeting of the INB will take place from 17 July 2023 to 21 July 2023.
The fourth meeting of the WGIHR will take place from 24 July 2023 to 28 July 2023.
The joint sessions of the INB/WGIHR will take place on Friday, 21 July 2023 from 14:00 to 17:00 CEST and Monday, 24 July 2023 from 9:30-12:30 CEST.