Nearing a Deal: Countries Converge Closer to Consensus [Pandemic Treaty Negotiations]

Newsletter Edition #125 [Treaty Talks - The Files Flash]

Hi,

When I walked out of WHO early on Saturday morning, history was in the making at the institution where diplomats were reaching closer to consensus on the Pandemic Agreement negotiations. We will know this week, whether history will indeed be made when countries resume talks on April 15th to finalize the deal.

In today’s edition, we bring you a blow-by-blow account on how these deliberations unfolded in crunch time during the final hours over Friday (April 11th) and well into Saturday morning (April 12th) last week.

We will be back with more, following Tuesday, when the entire text is expected to be greened. It is not over, till it is over!

It has been riveting to piece together and report on these closed door negotiations. Thank you for reading.

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Until later!

Priti

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Illustration Credit: Amy Clarke, Chembe Collaborative

I. PANDEMIC TREATY NEGOTIATIONS

Nearing a Deal: Countries Converge Closer to Consensus

Few issues pending, countries positive about reaching full consensus. If adopted, the Pandemic Treaty will lay the foundations on minimum assured access to medical products during health emergencies.

By Priti Patnaik

Nishant Sirohi contributed to this story

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Cherry blossoms have announced spring in front of the World Health Organization.

Inside, member states beavered in a hall in the basement over the past week, through tough, unpredictable, some times frustratingly slow, and yet dynamic negotiations on the new Pandemic Agreement. That this unfolds in a world rife with attacks on science, evidence and international solidarity, has been no mean feat.

In what could eventually be a flourishing finish, WHO member states reached closer to consensus in the early hours of Saturday, April 12, 2025. But they are not there yet.

Countries are expected to meet on Tuesday, April 15^th, to seal the negotiations on the Pandemic agreement. The latest text, though mostly “greened” includes notes that say pending consultation or confirmation from delegations across different provisions.

More than three years in the making, countries reached closer to consensus on most of the draft text at the end of a tumultuous week in the last round of negotiations bridging significant distance across provisions including on prevention, technology transfer, compensation and liability, unimpeded access, and the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing mechanism.

Text on technology transfer is yet to be fully agreed to, pending support from European Union and Canada, and other countries who have sought time to consult with capitals, sources told us.

A section of stakeholders lamented the watered-down agreement, but there has been a near universal sense of relief that the negotiations are nearing completion. The Agreement when adopted and signed, will lay the foundations for a more structured and legal binding approach for Pandemic Preparedness Prevention and Response. That is some distance away pending future work on the PABS in the coming months.

We followed the negotiations for most of this period till it concluded on Saturday morning, absorbing the atmospherics and witnessing these historic negotiations in progress.

This story is based on numerous interviews with negotiators, observers in the final hours of the past week, as discussions made headway across provisions. We describe the twists and turns in these closed-door deliberations as witnessed essentially by waiting outside the negotiating room and speaking with officials.

Image Credit: Photo by Landiva Weber, Pexels