INB informal, focused consultations

At its second meeting, the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (INB) decided that the INB Bureau would conduct
informal, focused consultations (IFCs) with experts, open to all WHO Member States and relevant stakeholders, on selected key issues.

The INB Bureau plans to hold four IFCs, to be held in September and October 2022. The consultations will provide a forum for interactive discussion between Member States, relevant stakeholders and subject matter experts to advance understanding of the
work of the INB.

The outcomes from the IFCs, along with the outcomes from the public hearings, written input from Member States and relevant stakeholders on the working draft, input from the second meeting of the INB, and input from regional consultations, will be utilized by the INB Bureau in its development of a Conceptual zero draft, to be discussed at the third meeting of the INB in December 2022.

In the interest of transparency, and mindful of the widespread interest in the work of the INB, the INB Bureau decided that each IFC session will be broadcast live.

 

Web streaming of all the sessions will be listed and accessible from the player below in due course.

 

The INB Bureau will hold four IFCs, as follows:

	Topic	Date	Time (CEST)
First IFC More details about the first IFC meeting	Legal matters Relationship between the pandemic agreement and other instruments, notably the International Health Regulations Sovereignty Institutional arrangements and alternatives Structural and framework considerations Ratification/accession Entry into force	21 September 2022	14:00-17:00
Second IFC More details about the second IFC meeting	Operationalizing and achieving equity Access to pandemic response products and delivery/distribution Access and benefit sharing, including genetic sequence data Strengthening health systems, including the importance of universal health coverage and primary health care	5 October 2022	12:00-15:00
Third IFC More details about the third IFC meeting	Intellectual property (IP), production and transfer of technology and know-how Research and development Patents and access to technology, including related know-how The role of TRIPS, compulsory licensing and IP waivers Production capacity and supply chain considerations Regulatory approvals during emergencies	7 October 2022	14:00-17:00
Fourth IFC More details about the fourth IFC meeting	One Health and antimicrobial resistance, climate change, and zoonoses Framing One health in the context of pandemic prevention, preparedness and response Multisectoral collaboration for animal, human and environmental health Integrated surveillance, monitoring and interoperable data sharing systems for One Health	14 October 2022	12:00-15:00

 

All IFCs will be fully virtual, with interpretation in all WHO official languages. Each will be chaired by an INB Bureau Co-chair and will have two parts:

1) an interactive, moderated roundtable between independent experts during which the moderator will ask questions and stimulate input from and dialogue between the experts; and

2) a discussion and reflection session, for Member States and relevant stakeholders, where questions and reflections may be sent through email or the meeting “chat” function.

The INB Bureau will select the experts to participate in each IFC session. Efforts will be made to promote diversity, including, in particular, diversity of scientific viewpoints and perspectives, as well as breadth in subject-matter expertise. As appropriate, WHO Secretariat experts will join the IFC roundtables as participants.  

Mindful of the informal nature of the IFCs and the goal of stimulating full and frank discussion, the following will apply to all IFC sessions:

• discussions at IFC sessions, including among participating experts, will in no way prejudice the positions of Member States or any other session participants;
• no comment or question presented by session participants, including Member States, during the IFCs, will imply a view or position of Member States or other session participants; and
• expert presentations will be provided solely for the consideration of Member States and will not themselves be sources of input to the Conceptual zero draft.

A summary report from the IFCs will be made available in advance of the third meeting of the INB.