Tense Discussions On Process & Way Forward: Pandemic Agreement Talks Set For An Uphill Climb to Consensus

Newsletter Edition #100 [Treaty Talks]

Hi,

I am delighted (and somewhat exhausted) to present the 100th edition of “Treaty Talks” - our signature editions on global health negotiations on Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response.

We are at a turning point in these discussions, but I am not sure yet if it will be a significant turn. We bring you a comprehensive update on the meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body in Geneva, that concluded last evening.

My outstanding colleague Nishant, has swiftly pulled together country statements and key interventions that capture the nuances in these important discussions - for you, and for the record.

Also, if it is not already obvious, we do not write stuff to make people happy. We write what we see and we are only doing our job!

Support public interest global health journalism, become a paying subscriber. Tracking global health policy-making in Geneva is tough and expensive. Help us raise important questions, and in keeping an ear to the ground. Readers paying for our work makes this possible.

Our gratitude to our subscribers who help us stay in the game!

Until later.

Best,

Priti

Feel free to write to us: patnaik.reporting@gmail.com. Follow us on X: @filesgeneva

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Illustration Credit: Amy Clarke, Chembe Collaborative

I. STORY OF THE WEEK

Tense Discussions On Process & Way Forward: Pandemic Agreement Talks Set For An Uphill Climb to Consensus

By Priti Patnaik & Nishant Sirohi

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This was supposed to be a “reset”. When WHO member states met this week for the tenth meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, it was expected that they would analyse lessons learned from over two years of negotiations towards a new Pandemic Agreement and chart a way ahead to conclude these discussions.

While they had extensive discussions over two days along painfully familiar lines, it does not appear to be a reset in the process. Key areas of disagreement on the involvement of experts in these negotiations, and the nature of informal sessions, bogged down these discussions – concerns that have been repeatedly raised over the last two years.

After a somewhat optimistic start to the meeting when negotiators and key stakeholders were eager to make a fresh start, familiar arguments showed continued distrust among countries. This quickly came to the surface in the course of this meeting. Undoubtedly, countries are still basking in the success of reaching consensus on the amendments to the International Health Regulations, an event that took place less than two months ago, but has already become distant memory.

Countries have no time to rest on their laurels. It appeared as if the recent success on the IHR, has already dimmed relative to the enormity of the task ahead of countries in concluding these tricky negotiations on the Pandemic Agreement.

While the positive momentum generated by the IHR track of negotiations will surely spill over into the negotiations for a Pandemic Agreement, the gulf that countries would need to bridge on reaching consensus also became obvious. As many as 20 articles are still open – which also happen to be the toughest topics on the table.

To be sure, it is not only the substantive matters that pose a challenge in reaching consensus, it is also process concerns that continue to plague countries. Only a few countries made clear statements seeking a course correction in process in order to reach consensus. Most statements were couched in delicate diplomatic language. Some observers were of the view that the meeting did not go far enough to really reset the process. This brings into question how different will the coming months be in terms of what has already been tried at the INB in a bid to get countries closer to agreement. 

In this story, we capture the concerns discussed at the meeting, present statements made by countries and stakeholders. We also decode the politics for you from this meeting which was publicly webcast.

Image Credit: Photo by Laura Tancredi, Pexels