The WHO has just created the WHO Civil Society Commission (whose Steering Committee held its inaugural meeting today in Geneva. The Commission will provide, for the first time ever, a more structured and systematic channel for the views and recommendations of civil society to the WHO on health priorities and related issues.Civil society organisations have always played a role in bringing about change in public health. While the WHO has a long history of working with these organisations, the creation of the Commission takes this collaboration to a new level.
Today's meeting was opened by the Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO, and brought together the members of the Steering Committee (made up of 22 civil society organisations working in health or other sectors that are members of the Commission). The full composition of the Commission will be announced in the coming days.
Listening and responding
The Commission's mandate is to strengthen dialogue and promote collaboration with the WHO and between organisations. It will also formulate recommendations to support the WHO in its commitment, at all levels (global, regional and national), to universal health coverage (health for all) and the Sustainable Development Goals. In creating the Commission, the Director-General intends to respond to requests from civil society to consider more effective and meaningful ways of collaborating with the WHO, in addition to those that already exist.
"Our experience in many fields has taught us that it is essential to listen and respond to what the communities we serve are telling us, in order to respond appropriately to the health challenges they face," said the Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the WHO. "We created the Civil Society Commission with the aim of bringing together civil society organisations from all walks of life, so that they can share their views with us and cooperate with us, and so that we can learn from them and be inspired by their ideas".
Role of the Steering Committee
The Steering Committee will provide overall strategic direction to the Commission as a whole and lead the development of its key outputs. It will also convey the views and recommendations of civil society in regular dialogue with the Director-General and WHO senior management.
During the meeting, the WHO Director-General encouraged the Policy Committee to consult all members of the Commission and to set priorities on the basis of the information gathered. He also sought advice on the development of a strategy for cooperation between WHO and civil society and on the Organization's key priorities to be set in the next three-year plan, the 14ᵉ General Programme of Work, which will be approved by Member States in May 2024 and will guide the Organization's work between 2025 and 2028.
Membership of the Commission
To date, more than 350 organisations have applied to join the Commission. From today, the WHO will begin notifying the 120 organisations that have been accepted for the time being. The others will be notified in the coming weeks. A list of participating organisations is available on the WHO website and will be updated regularly.
The application procedure remains open and organisations wishing to apply to the Commission are encouraged to do so.
"This is a historic opportunity for collaboration between the WHO and civil society organizations around the world, and we are delighted that so many organizations are playing an active role in this," said Lisa Hilmi (CORE Group) and Ravi Ram (Medwise Solutions), co-chairs of the Civil Society Steering Committee. "We invite all civil society organizations working for better global health to join the WHO Civil Society Commission, and we look forward to their cooperation and thought leadership in addressing major health challenges."
General information
Organisations that meet the criteria set out in the mandate of the WHO Civil Society Commission (can apply to join. Visit requests (in English) can be made on the WHO Civil Society Commission web page; there is no deadline for applications.
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