WHO Member States Propose Multiple Resolutions, On The Back Of Unfunded Mandates & Unambitious Text [EB156 PRIMER]

Newsletter Edition #246 [The Files In-Depth]

Hi,

The year has begun with a bang with the decisive and swift action from the United States whose President has just announced withdrawal from the World Health Organization. We are trying to understand the full implications of this decision, not only for WHO, but for global health.

The U.S. is one of the 194 member states of WHO. So life in Geneva, the capital of global health, while still coming to terms with the American decision, goes on with immediate matters to attend.

It is that time of the year again, when countries formalize the process of setting the annual agenda for WHO.

In less than a fortnight from now, WHO member states will meet at the Executive Board meeting to consider among other operational issues and urgent financing matters, and a score of resolutions addressing various diseases and related aspects in global health. They reflect classic challenges of the field, where siloed approaches are the bane of policy-making on, and outcomes for people’s health.

In this edition, we examine two of the resolutions and what they suggest about the way specific diseases concerns are treated and governed. These deliberations illustrate the forces shaping global health.

We will be following up with multiple editions in the coming days to keep up with the news cycle, and to bring you the most relevant discussions in a timely manner.

Thank you for reading.

---

If you find our work valuable, become a paying subscriber. Tracking global health policy-making in Geneva is tough and expensive. Help us in raising important questions, and in keeping an ear to the ground. Readers paying for our work helps us meet our costs.

Our gratitude to our subscribers who ensure we stay in the game!

---

Best,

Priti

Feel free to write to us: genevahealthfiles@gmail.com

Find us on BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/genevahealthfiles.bsky.social

---

Illustration Credit: Amy Clarke, Chembe Collaborative

I. ANALYSIS: EB156

WHO Member States Propose Multiple Resolutions, On The Back Of Unfunded Mandates & Unambitious Text

---

For the World Health Organization, the year begins on a difficult note. One of its biggest and influential donors, the United States is withdrawing from the organization as a result of a new Executive Order issued by its new President Donald Trump; a ceasefire in the troubled Middle East ushers in tentative calm amidst the wreckage of more than 400 days of bombing and attacks that has left thousands dead, and many hospitals dismembered in the Occupied Palestinian Territories and elsewhere.

In the backdrop of tightening geopolitics with deep financial and policy implications for global health, WHO member states have been hard at work negotiating more than a score resolutions straddling specific diseases, strategies, financing and other operational issues. These will be taken up at the 156^th Executive Board meeting beginning February 3, 2025.

Despite the enthusiasm and the urgency of the issues these resolutions address, experts believe that many of them lack adequate ambition, and some that do not refer to previously negotiated language.

In this story, we examine the resolutions on rare diseases and lung health, that to some extent show the intent of these initiatives, but somehow weakened by a lack of ambition.

A whole host of these resolutions, come unfunded. Already stretched in its funding, with chronic pressure on its resources and acute donor dependence, WHO has a near impossible task in implementing and monitoring some of these proposed new initiatives, in addition to existing mandates.

Catharina Boehme, assistant director-general for external relations and governance at WHO, told Devex recently, “Wherever I look, we are thinly spread. That cannot be debated. Our scope of work increases and increases and increases. For example, we already know that for the next World Health Assembly, 25 member states are working on 24 new resolutions, many of which would further broaden our mandate and are covering health areas that today we do not have teams working on”. (This comment was made prior to the announcement of the U.S. decision)

Resolutions at the WHO are not legally binding, but they have normative value, and build on previously negotiated and agreed language. They contain operative paragraphs that spell out actions for countries, for the WHO Director-General and actions to be taken by the secretariat.

In this story, we examine the texts from the proposed resolutions on rare diseases and integrated lung health.

Image credit: Photo by Victor Moragriega, Pexels