WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the tenth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) – 16 July 2024

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

Good morning and welcome back to WHO.

Thank all of you for your commitment and dedication to this critical effort.

I want to especially thank our outgoing co-chair Roland Driece for his steadfast leadership, professionalism, wisdom, and friendship over the past two and-a-half years.

My deepest gratitude to you, Roland, for your service, alongside co-chair Precious Matsoso and the vice-chairs: Ambassador Tovar, Ambassador Ramadan, Ambassador Kozo, and Dr Viroj.

I am pleased to welcome the renewed Bureau, including Her Excellency Ambassador Anne-Claire Amprou of France, and Ms Fleur Davies of Australia.

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

The goal is in sight. You have already come to agreement on many issues.

You have reached understanding and clarity on a wide variety of technical points.

There is a lot of yellow and green in the text.

The biggest challenge is fundamentally a political one. With leadership and commitment, you can bring your hard work to fruition.

You, our Member States, already made history during the World Health Assembly by adopting a package of amendments to strengthen the International Health Regulations.

You strengthened a cornerstone of international health law, and sent a strong signal that multilateralism is alive and well.

Building on the success of those negotiations, and the many areas of agreement already reached in the INB, I am confident you can bring the Pandemic Accord over the finish line.

The two-year timeframe you set yourselves was extremely ambitious, and it needed to be, given the threat we face.

The progress you made in that time is remarkable. I know it was not easy, but reaching consensus on international agreements and laws normally takes many years.

Completing these negotiations this year would represent a unique and historic achievement.

Without minimizing the complexity of your task, I would say frankly that consensus over the outstanding issues is possible within a relatively short time, if you prioritize public health over other considerations.

Dear friends, we must always keep the urgency of this generational agreement at the forefront.

Because, as the current outbreak of H5N1 reminds us, the next pandemic may be around the corner. It can come at any time. It will not wait for us.

I urge you to use today and tomorrow to recalibrate and make the necessary adjustments that will allow you to move towards consensus and reach our shared goal of a pandemic agreement for a safer and more equitable world for all.

I thank you.

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