KEI closing statement at INB 12
Geneva
Friday, 15 November 2024
We welcome the decision to provide daily access to the negotiating texts, but more needs to be done on transparency.
The excessive secrecy surrounding the WHO pandemic treaty is a bad practice and precedent for multilateral norm-setting.
Secrecy undermines trust. It should be obvious that the attacks on the WHO and on the pandemic agreement are increasing.
The World Intellectual Property Organization is holding its second diplomatic conference this year, in Riyadh. For both WIPO treaties, there is far greater observer and public access to negotiations than here, even though there is greater interest by the public in the WHO negotiations, and a far larger problem of misinformation about this agreement.
Transparency at WIPO has elevated its status as a forum for norm setting, and also, enhanced the quality of input on technical issues from outside experts and the public.
At another UN forum, the Human Rights Council, civil society groups are invited to observe the informals of right to health resolutions.
WHO Member States should reconsider the participation of relevant stakeholders in at least some of the sessions where the text based negotiations take place, and webcast more of it. The overreach on secrecy here even extends to sessions like this, where a handful of NGOs are speaking, and none want their participation or views to be secret. It’s as if the WHO has an unhealthy addiction to secrecy when it comes to this negotiation.