<div dir="ltr">From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Patti Rundall</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:prundall@babymilkaction.org">prundall@babymilkaction.org</a>></span><br><div class="gmail_quote"><br><div style="word-wrap:break-word;line-break:after-white-space"><div>I am waiting with Alessia Bigi my IBFAN GIFA colleague here in the WHO lobby to gain entry to the Special Session of WHO’s Executive Board - where we hope to deliver the statement below. The system for approving our badges to get in is completely jammed and we have been waiting for over an hour. So much for more streamlined access!</div><div><br></div><div>Below is our short opening statement. We will add a longer more detailed statement to this policy blog page <a href="http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/15473" target="_blank">Click here </a> Please share with your government delegation.</div><div> Click <a href="https://extranet.who.int/nonstateactorsstatements/meetingoutline/196" target="_blank">HERE</a> for all the NGO statements </div><div><br></div><a name="m_8798836855512033828_OLE_LINK1"><b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#504e4e">Meeting: </span></b></a><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#504e4e">EB Special session on the
draft Thirteenth General Programme of Work<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><b><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#504e4e">Agenda Item: <u></u><u></u></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><span style="font-size:11.5pt;font-family:"inherit","serif";color:#504e4e">3. Draft Thirteenth
General Programme of Work<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="vertical-align:baseline"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">IBFAN welcomes the opportunity to comment on the </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"">draft Programme and will
focus on WHO’s </span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">constitutional mandate and duty to protect its <i>independence, integrity and trustworthiness.</i></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">IBFAN
fears that the draft plan contains suggestions that will undermine WHO’s capacity
to fulfill its constitutional mandate and core functions. We are pleased that
suggestions are still welcome, and hope this EB will allow time for a deeper
analysis. This cannot only be about
adding suggestions.</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-size:10pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">Firstly,
IBFAN challenges the statement that the SDGs are <i>“consistent with WHO’s Constitution.”</i> This assertion is justified by
quoting the Constitutional principle that the <i>“health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and
security and is dependent on the fullest cooperation of individuals and
states.”</i> This is false. The principle
does not justify turning WHO into an actor, a <i>“humble catalyst”</i> in an <i>“ecosystem
of partnerships”</i> that must show its <i>“competitive
advantage”</i> to attract funding and investments and be assessed along
measurable impact targets.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left:18.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">The
draft explicitly and implicitly proposes a change to WHO’s health governance
architecture, that will threaten WHO’s capacity to fulfill three constitutional
core functions: <u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="m_8798836855512033828MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left:54.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman"">
</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">To
act as the directing and coordinating authority in international health work
(Art.2a)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="m_8798836855512033828MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left:54.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman"">
</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">To
propose conventions, agreements and regulations…. (Art.2k)<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="m_8798836855512033828MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left:54.0pt"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Symbol" lang="EN-US">·<span style="font-stretch:normal;font-size:7pt;line-height:normal;font-family:"Times New Roman"">
</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">To
assist in developing an<u> informed</u> public opinion among all peoples on
matters of health (Art. 2r)</span><span style="font-family:"Times New Roman";font-size:10pt"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">As a long-standing corporate
accountability network, IBFAN is concerned that WHO’s role in regulation and
norm-setting is being reframed and its mandate to build the international Rule
of Law undermined. What does this mean for the implementation of the <i>International Code of Marketing of
Breast-Milk Substitutes </i>or, for other urgently needed Conventions to tackle
marketing and other corporate strategies that harm health? In its current form, the Plan will leave even
more people behind than has already been the case – and it is these people who
will pick up the cost of bad decisions about their health.</span><a href="#m_8798836855512033828__ftn1" name="m_8798836855512033828__ftnref1" title=""><span class="m_8798836855512033828MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US"><span class="m_8798836855512033828MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10pt" lang="EN-US">[1]</span></span></span></span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US"><u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US">To enable WHO to fulfill its
constitutional mandate, we recommend putting full funding of WHO on the agenda
of the Special EB. WHO needs to be freed from its dependency on “voluntary”
funders imposed by the long-standing freeze on its assessed contributions.<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"" lang="EN-US"> </span></p>
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<div id="m_8798836855512033828ftn1"><p class="m_8798836855512033828MsoFootnoteText"><a href="#m_8798836855512033828__ftnref1" name="m_8798836855512033828__ftn1" title=""><span class="m_8798836855512033828MsoFootnoteReference"><span class="m_8798836855512033828MsoFootnoteReference"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Cambria">[1]</span></span></span></a><span lang="FR-CH">
<a href="http://www.other-news.info/2017/11/the-richest-1-now-own-more-than-50-of-the-worlds-wealth/#more-14481" target="_blank">http://www.other-news.info/<wbr>2017/11/the-richest-1-now-own-<wbr>more-than-50-of-the-worlds-<wbr>wealth/#more-14481</a><u></u><u></u></span></p>
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