Chair,

I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the European Union and its 27 Member States.

The EU thanks the DG for his report and the Officers of the Board and the Agile Member States Task Group for their efforts in strengthening WHO’s budgetary and programmatic governance. 

These times of WHO reorganisation and reprioritisation, as well as broader UN and multilateral reform, warrant us to critically review and streamline the existing and newly established mandates and reporting requirements within WHO. To maintain focus, with prioritised work within GPW14 as the foundation.   

While we have seen important advancements in governance efficiency, more work remains to be done. This report provides many concrete reform measures that increase trust, transparency and accountability. 

We would like to highlight the proposed measures to improve the resolution and decision process, including the refinement of criteria and more robust costing estimates. It is essential for the future of this organization to have a clear process with well-defined roles in place. Implementing the proposed measures will turn the existing means into effective tools to steer the process. Furthermore, we stress that resolutions should not be standalone initiatives but must be fully aligned with the GPW and the Programme budget.

We call on the Secretariat to be proactive in their guidance of the resolution process by providing timely advice on the appropriateness, relevance and quality of resolutions. And by improving the costing mechanism, in order to create realistic estimates and a consolidated overview in the form of a resourcing analysis that is shared with Member States before consultations start. These actions should be taken in close collaboration with the Officers of the Board and EB members.

As the report rightly states, Member States have an important role to play to ensure the success of this process: while the right to submit proposals is central to a MS-led multilateral process, we call on all Member States to fully embrace these principles and to collectively exercise discipline to adhere to the relevant deadlines, processes and criteria. To be cognizant of the limited capacities of all Member States and the already overburdened Secretariat as well as the financial constraints. We call on Member States to be ambitious in strengthening the effectiveness and efficiency of the governing bodies, to ensure their strategic relevance. 

This reform process is about making sure WHO is fit-for-purpose, futureproof, well-adapted and focused to deliver on its constitutional mandate, firmly based on the foundations of evidence-based public health principles. The EU and its Member States underline the leading and coordinating role of the WHO in global health.

Therefore, the EU stands ready to work with the wider membership to take these efforts further.