The 10th meeting of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), held 16-17 July 2024, provided a key opportunity for Member States to enhance civil society participation in the negotiation process. The draft workplan (published 11 July 2024) proposed relevant stakeholders ‘be invited to observe closed sessions of the INB, including meetings of the drafting group’.
The initial workplan recognised that this access would enable relevant stakeholders to provide informed views/inputs to better support the process. However this proposal has been removed, leaving civil society with continued limited access to the process.
Civil society and the global health community have repeatedly called for greater participation in this process. While we appreciate that Member States agreed that relevant stakeholders will have access to the brief opening daily sessions of the meetings, this decision falls significantly short of meaningful participation and risks rolling back on best practice in global negotiations.
This is a critical moment for the Pandemic Accord, with the negotiation process extended and public discourse surrounding these negotiations plagued by misinformation. This decision limits those stakeholders, specifically identified by Member States as relevant to this process, from meaningfully contributing to this process.
We continue our call, alongside 165 organisations, for Member States to ensure meaningful participation of civil society throughout the process, including closed sessions.