On 24 February, GPMB worked with the INB Co-Chairs to host two dialogues on the Pandemic Agreement between Member States and other stakeholders, held in the margins of the 8th session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB).
The two sessions, chaired by INB Co-Chair, Dr Precious Matsoso, and facilitated by GPMB Members Ms Bente Angell-Hansen, Professor Ilona Kickbusch, and Sir Mark Lowcock, were designed as an opportunity to support the Agreement negotiations through the exchange of ideas and perspectives from multiple sectors engaged in preparedness. To ensure a frank and open exchange, the dialogues were conducted under the Chatham House rule, under which meeting attendees are free to use information from a discussion, but not to reveal who made any specific comment.
The first meeting, a Dialogue with the Private Sector on the Pandemic Agreement, was moderated by Ms Bente Angell-Hansen, who is a Norwegian former diplomat and the former Co-Chair of the WHO Open-Ended Working Group on Pandemic Influenza Preparedness. The dialogue included representatives from the private sector and stakeholders involved in the research, development, production and delivery of medical countermeasures for epidemic and pandemic response. Participants were invited to address topics relating to research and development, equitable access to medical countermeasures, and access and benefit sharing.
The second meeting, a Dialogue with Civil Society Organizations on the Pandemic Agreement, was facilitated by GPMB Member, Sir Mark Lowcock, former Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and former Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The session included representatives from civil society organizations (CSOs) with diverse geographical and sectoral expertise across PPPR. Topics for discussion included how to address capacity gaps for PPPR, governance and financing for preparedness, and pandemic prevention (One Health).
GPMB and the Pandemic Agreement
The GPMB has called repeatedly for an agreement for preparedness throughout its tenure, first calling for an international regulatory framework to address health emergencies in its 2020 Report, calling for the adoption of an international agreement in its 2021 Report, and further specifying key requirements for the Agreement in the Board’s 2023 Report. In January 2024, GPMB Members joined together with other world leaders to publish an open letter, highlighting the critical role of the Pandemic Agreement for ensuring a world that is safer from pandemics and epidemics.