PHM-Exch> Who consultation on WHO and NGOs, 18 October 2012, background document
Claudio Schuftan
cschuftan at phmovement.org
Sat Oct 13 10:56:01 PDT 2012
From: Thomas Schwarz MMI <schwarz at medicusmundi.org>
The technical instructions received from WHO (online streaming and audio
conference) and their remarkable background document available now (below)
will allow both those able to join the discussion in Geneva next Thursday
and those unable to attend to get involved in the consultation on the
future WHO policy for engagement with NGOs.
** **
*Von:* KEVILL, Anna [mailto:sudnika at who.int]
*SAVE THE DATE CONSULTATION ON WHO AND NGOS MOVING FORWARD THURSDAY, 18
OCTOBER 2012, WHO HQ, EXECUTIVE BOARD ROOM*
* *
Please find at the end of this message the background document for the
consultation.
For those of you that are unable to attend but would like to listen in on
the discussion, online streaming will be available. Please note, the
streaming link below will only become active 15 minutes before the start of
the consultation. ****
** **
The following is relevant information ****
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Meeting information ****
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Topic: WHO Reform: Consultation with NGOs ****
Date: Thursday, October 18, 2012 ****
Time: 10:00 am, Europe Summer Time (Paris, GMT+02:00) ****
Meeting Number: 847 004 715 ****
Meeting Password: WHO2012 ****
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To join the online meeting ****
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Go to
https://who-meeting.webex.com/who-meeting/j.php?ED=207639762&UID=506863177&PW=NMGRmNjE5YzUz&RT=MiMyMw%3D%3D
****
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Audio conference information ****
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Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-650-479-3208 ****
Switzerland Toll: +41-43456-9567 ****
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Having trouble dialing in? Try these backup numbers: ****
Call-in toll number (US/Canada): 1-650-479-3208 ****
Global call-in numbers:
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Access code:847 004 715 ****
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For assistance ****
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1. Go to https://who-meeting.webex.com/who-meeting/mc ****
2. On the left navigation bar, click "Support". ****
To update this meeting to your calendar program (for example Microsoft
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****
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To check whether you have the appropriate players installed for UCF
(Universal Communications Format) rich media files, go to
https://who-meeting.webex.com/who-meeting/systemdiagnosis.php. ****
** **
http://www.webex.com ****
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*
*
*CONSULTATION ON WHO’S ENGAGEMENT WITH NGOS: ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN THE
FORMULATION OF A POLICY*
* *
*
October 12th, 2012*
* *
*I. INTRODUCTION *
** **
1. Decision WHA65(9) requested that a draft policy paper on WHO’s
engagement with nongovernmental organizations be presented to the Executive
Board at its 132nd session in January 2013.[1] <#13a5a3a9a6474a73__ftn1> ***
*
** **
2. To propose a draft policy it is important to take stock of the evolution
of the NGO sector, of the historical evolution of the frameworks guiding
WHO’s engagement with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and of the
current practices in this regard. Such a review, and the views expressed by
several NGOs, have made possible to identify a few critical issues that
ought to be considered in the formulation of a draft policy which will be
brought to the consideration of the Member States for their endorsement. ***
*
** **
3. This paper describes the issues that according to the analysis conducted
and the views heard need to be addressed by the policy. It is intended to
inform a Consultation with NGOs to be held on October 18th 2012 and
eventually the drafting of a proposed policy to be submitted to the
Executive Board. ****
** **
*II.WHO ENGAGEMENT WITH NGOs*
** **
4. Article 71 of the WHO Constitution states that “*The Organization may,
on matters within its competence, make suitable arrangements for
consultation and co-operation with non-governmental international
organizations and, with the consent of the Government concerned, with
national organizations, governmental or non-governmental”*
** **
5. Civil society at large and nongovernmental organizations in particular
are increasingly recognized as important actors in social, political and
economic development. NGOs have been able to address issues that
organizations in other sectors cannot do .NGOs have emerged in large part
to bridge the gap between what governments and corporations can do and what
society needs or expects.****
** **
6. Civil society organizations (CSOs) have played a critical role in
supporting WHO to fulfil its primary mandate i.e. “the attainment by all
peoples of the highest possible level of health” There is considerable
on-going collaboration along the six WHO core functions that contributes to
the achievement of the objectives of the WHO General Program of Work. CSOs
have been instrumental in advocating for issues of public health promoted
by WHO and taking them to a broad audience, as well as bringing to the
attention of WHO health issues experienced at the grassroots level,
performing a watchdog function in the protection of public health concerns,
raising sensitive issues that WHO as an intergovernmental organization may
not always be in a position to address. CSOs continue also to be important
partners of WHO at the national level as they are often involved in
humanitarian response and in building up national capacity of health
systems and implementing WHO programmes at country level. ****
** **
7. From 1948 to 1986 WHO NGO relations were governed by a set of working
principles by which international NGOs could be admitted into official
relations with WHO. Relations with regional and national NGOs were also
provided for. Essentially the principles served as an accreditation policy
to the governing bodies but did not offer a programmatic framework for
guiding consultative and collaborative processes. ****
** **
8. Since the adoption in 1987 of the current Principles (WHA40.25),
governing relations between WHO and NGOs, the basis of an official
relationship has been a mutually agreed three year plan for collaboration.
There is a provision for informal relations between WHO and NGOs, in
particular enabling information exchange with NGOs as well as enabling ad
hoc joint activities. . Relations with national and regional NGOs have been
an integral element of WHOs framework for interaction with NGOs Insofar as
collaboration with national NGOs is concerned, the Principles call for
consulting with the government concerned****
** **
9. During 2001 and 2002 a review of the current WHO principles comprising
analysis of the situation, consultations within WHO HQ, regional and some
country offices, as well as NGOs and other development partners, concluded
that the Principles were “… inadequate to meet the needs of WHO and the
needs and aspirations of civil society, and recommended that they should be
replaced by a twofold policy of accreditation and collaboration”. ****
** **
10. Various versions of a twofold policy were considered by the governing
bodies, most recently in 2004 at the 57th WHA (document A57/32).Several
issues were raised and it was considered that they required further
discussion: an independent review of mechanisms to safeguard WHO’s
integrity including the WHO Guidelines for Interactions with Commercial
Enterprises; arrangements by the regional committees for the accreditation
of national or regional NGOs; the need for consultation with the government
concerned in connection with the application of the collaboration policy to
national NGOs; and provisions for the discontinuance of collaboration and
reporting requirements. Decision WHA57 (12) postponed, inter alia, the
consideration of the policy.****
** **
11. The subject was not taken again by the Governing Bodies until
recently, associated to the debates on improving engagement with
stakeholders as part of the discussions on WHO Reform. It is therefore now
that a new policy for WHO engagement with NGOs needs to be formulated and
adopted by Member States so the existing constrains can be overcome.****
** **
*IV: ISSUES TO CONSIDER IN THE FORMULATION OF A REVISED POLICY FOR WHO
ENGAGEMEN WITH NGOs*
* *
12.The most critical issues that need to be addressed in the formulation of
a draft policy of WHO engagement with NGOs, identified in the review of
current practices and existing frameworks, can be summarized as follows:****
** **
**(i) **The need for seeking the views of nongovernmental
organizations in the development of health policies and strategies
(consultation); ****
**(ii) **The importance of improving the modalities for
engaging nongovernmental organizations in the different WHO activities at
country, regional and global level in pursuit of the WHO General program of
Work(collaboration); ****
**(iii) **The importance of updating the practices and the
criteria for accreditation and of defining modalities of NGO participation
in the Governing Bodies meetings (accreditation);****
** **
*The need for seeking the views of nongovernmental organizations in the
development of health policies and strategies (consultation); * **
** **
13. Informal relations enables the Secretariat and NGOs to consult and
exchange information freely regardless of whether an NGO meets the criteria
for official relations. The absence of reporting requirement makes it
difficult to evaluate this aspect of the current Principles. However, WHO
policy development and revisions as well as the development of certain WHO
norms, standards and publications, involve wide consultation with NGOs.****
** **
14. NGOs play a valuable and vital role at the formative stages of the
development or revision of policies. WHO also considers its participation
in the meetings of NGOs to be an effective means of influencing on the
development of NGO policies, norms and standards, while at the same time
providing access to and feedback from important professional or scientific
bodies. ****
** **
15. The strengthening of the engagement and contribution of CSOs in WHO’s
work could be achieved through more proactive approach that can boost the
consultative dimension of WHO engagement with NGOs.****
** **
16.In this regard it would be important to identify concrete mechanisms
that can facilitate such a consultative process such as a global civil
society mechanism or hearings associated to the development of major
policies and strategies.****
** **
17.The policy should also encourage Member States to hold national level
policy dialogues with civil society on health matters including those
concerning WHO. Involvement of civil society at the national level will
greatly assist Member States in their interaction with WHO at the regional
and international levels and this in turn will strengthen the ability of
WHO to play a leading role in global health. ****
** **
18. It is important to ensure inclusiveness in WHO consultation processes
with NGOs. In this sense it would be important for the new policy to adopt
a sufficiently broad and clear conception of civil society to adequately
reflect the range of CSOs that support WHO’s mission. This should
include *social
movements and horizontal networks *and the way the policy is implemented
should allow them to be consulted,to collaborate with them and to be fully
accredited to WHO for purposes of participation in WHO meetings. ****
** **
** **
*The importance of improving the modalities for engaging nongovernmental
organizations in the different WHO activities at country, regional and
global level **in pursuit of the WHO General Program of Work**(collaboration)
*
** **
19.The modalities of collaboration between nongovernmental organizations
and WHO span throughout the full spectrum of the core WHO functions stated
in the 11th General Program of Work, namely: joint action for providing
leadership on matters critical to health; support in shaping the research
agenda and stimulating the generation, translation and dissemination of
valuable knowledge; support in the process of setting norms and standards
and promoting and monitoring their implementation; support in articulating
ethical and evidence-based policy options; joint action for providing
technical support, catalysing change, and building sustainable
institutional capacity; and support in monitoring the health situation and
assessing health trends****
** **
20. All WHO Regional Offices report and value collaboration with NGOs,
including at the country level. In addition country offices increasingly
seek to involve national NGOs in the development of country cooperation
strategies. At the country level in addition to national level NGOs some
regions have interaction with community based organizations and a strong
interest in organizations that are effective at social mobilization
campaigns. Another point of interest is that several regional offices
reported their experiences with the development of networks or forums that
bring together likeminded NGOs around specific issues as effective
coordinating mechanisms. As with WHO HQ the majority of relations are
informal. ****
** **
21. The policy* *should have a component that fosters and governs WHO
Secretariat’s collaboration with NGOs. The purpose of such policy would be
to provide clear guidance to WHO staff, its member states and to CSOs on
how to encourage and secure meaningful participation and collaboration of
CSOs with WHO. Collaboration between NGO and the WHO should aim at
advancing the objectives and policies of WHO It is also very important that
the policy establishes appropriate safeguards, including increased
transparency, to eliminate all risks of real or perceived conflicts of
interests.****
** **
22. Engagement with NGOs should not be associated to any vested interest
and WHO should ensure the necessary due diligence to protect itself from
such potential risk. The criteria to be followed in this regard should not
be different from the criteria applied to the engagement with other
stakeholders such as private commercial entities, philanthropic
institutions, collaborating centers and academic and research institutions.*
***
** **
23. WHO interacts with a wide range of organizations and entities, with
diverse structures, mandates and funding sources. To date, however, WHO has
made no differentiation between the organizations and entities interacting
with it and all organizations are considered to be NGOs. This is so despite
the key criterion for admission of NGOs into official relations is that the
NGO “shall be free from concerns which are primarily of a commercial or
profit-making nature”. ****
** **
24. The policy should include the definition of a process that will be put
in place to assess the nature of the collaboration between WHO and a
non-governmental organization with respect to the principles concerning any
direct or indirect engagement in actions contrary to public health
principles, or favoring commercial interest of the NGO concerned or the
commercial interest of third parties. If such an assessment reveals
potential conflict of interest the collaboration should not be implemented**
**
25. In addition, it is imperative to differentiate between NGOs with
commercial interests/links and those without such interests and links, as
market interests/links can conflict with health outcomes. This is of great
importance in light of WHO’s public health mandate, and most particularly
its normative and policy role, and given the possibility of real or
perceived conflicts of interest between commercially linked motives and
public health goals. Accordingly, it is important that the definition of
NGOs and the scope of the policy include only nongovernmental organisations
that are independent of the for-profit sectors****
26. A separate policy to guide WHO’s interactions with not-for-profit
philanthropic organizations should be developed to ensure transparency with
regard to WHO’s interactions with such organizations, and to have in place
an adequate safeguard mechanisms against conflicts of interests. Such
policy should also establish criteria to identify these organizations, so
as to ensure that philanthropic organizations falling within the category
are organizations that have aims and purposes consistent with WHO’s
Constitution and the policies of the Organization and are not driven by
commercial or other interests that could conflict with WHO’s public health
mandate****
*The importance of updating the practices and the criteria for
accreditation and of defining modalities of NGO participation in the
Governing Bodies meetings (accreditation);*
** **
27. The 1987 *“Principles Governing Relations between the World Health
Organization and nongovernmental organizations” *define the procedures for
NGOs to enter into official relations. To obtain the status of “official
relation”, NGOs need to establish a joint programme of work and a 3-year
plan with a technical department of WHO. A review process of these
relations is based on 3-year reports and the drawing up of new work plans.
The process is perceived as complex and lengthy in comparison to existing
accreditation procedures in UN agencies. It is deemed as important to
revise it ****
and to distinguish between an accreditation component of the policy and
the consultation and collaboration components of the policy.****
** **
28. Since 1948 international NGOs in official relations with WHO have been
accorded the privilege of automatically being invited to participate,
without right of vote, in WHO governing bodies and, as appropriate,
conferences convened by such bodies, to request or be invited to speak at
such bodies. The current principles note that a national organization would
normally present its views through its government or through the
international NGO to which it is affiliated, unless other arrangements are
made. NGOs may also have access to non-confidential documentation and the
right to submit a memorandum to the DG who would determine the nature and
scope of its circulation, including to a governing body. **
** **
29. With regard to NGO participation at WHO HQ governing bodies less than
50% of the NGOs in official relations attend the WHAs and slightly less
than 30% the January EB sessions, and even less the May EB sessions. While
most NGO delegations are small, some NGO delegation have as many as 30 to
60 representatives.****
** **
30. The accreditation component of the Policy* *should contain procedures
pertaining to NGOs attendance at WHO meetings and privileges available to
such NGOs. In contrast to the current “official relations” system,
accreditation should not be conditional on working relations with the
Secretariat. The accreditation policy should enable NGOs including “social
movements and horizontal networks” that have aims and purposes consistent
with the WHO’s Constitution and that are in conformity with the policies of
the Organization, to participate in governing body and other meetings
convened by WHO as observers without voting rights. Under the policy,
accredited NGOs should have the right to appoint representatives to
participate in WHO meetings and the freedom to make statements without
prior scrutiny and censorship. ****
** **
*V: CONCLUSION *
* *
31. The review and updating of the principles governing WHO’s relations as
a result of the analysis of current practices, the consultations with both
Member States and Nongovernmental organizations, and the debates on
improving the interaction with constituencies other than member States that
have been part of the WHO Reform discussions, will inform the Draft Policy
on the WHO’s engagement with NGOs that will be proposed to the
132ndSession of The Executive Board in January 2013.
****
** **
32. The new policy should recognize the importance of civil society and its
contributions to public health, the growth in the numbers and influence of
nongovernmental organizations active in health at global, regional and
national levels, and the need to improve existing collaboration and
dialogue with nongovernmental organizations encouraging new cooperative
activities with such bodies for advancing WHO policies, strategies and
general programmes of work. It should as well widen the scope of the
definition of NGOs to have greater inclusiveness and should attempt to
differentiate NGOs from private related entities****
33.The new policy should recognize the importance of having WHO
proactively consulting nongovernmental organizations in the development of
policies, strategies, programs, norms and standards and of having a greater
engagement of the Governing Bodies in this consultative process.To
strengthen the practice of consulting with all relevant parties and
encourage a wider input into the policy development work of WHO, an
explicit component for public consultation, including the use of online
mechanisms, should make part of the policy. ****
** **
34. The new policy should also attempt to be more pragmatic by dissociating
the collaboration with nongovernmental organizations from the formalities
of “recognition” of current practices for NGOs “designation in official
relations with WHO”. It should state that collaboration should be based on
the identification of *“common ground”* for working together, on a series
of principles that promote programmatic synergy and prevents any possible
conflict of interest, and on well-defined modalities of joint work along
the lines of the core WHO functions stated in the 11th General Program of
Work****
** **
35.The new policy should define eligibility criteria and a process for
nongovernmental accreditation to the Health Assembly, Executive Board,
Regional Committees and committees and conferences convened under their
authority. It should also stipulate the privileges and responsibilities
associated to the accreditation. The revised rules for NGO participation in
WHO meetings at the international level should harmonize and streamline the
participation of observers at regional committees. ****
** **
36. Finally, the new policy should address the challenges of conflict of
interest in the engagement with nongovernmental organizations and define
the criteria to be followed to ensure compliance with this fundamental
tenet.****
** **
****
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[1] <#13a5a3a9a6474a73__ftnref1> The WHA stressed that the Director-
General be guided by the following principles:(i) that the
intergovernmental nature of WHO’s decision-making remains
paramount;(ii)that the development of norms, standards, policies and
strategies, which lies at the heart of WHO’s work, must continue to be
based on the systematic use of evidence and protected from influence by any
form of vested interest;(iii)the need for due consultation with all
relevant parties keeping in mind the principles and guidelines laid down
for WHO’s interactions with Member States and other parties; (iv)that any
new initiative must have clear benefits and add value in terms of enriching
policy or increasing national capacity from a public health
perspective;(v)that building on existing mechanisms should take precedence
over creating new forums, meetings or structures, with a clear analysis
provided of how any additional costs can lead to better outcomes****
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