A registration form for the civil society meeting is available now at the bottom of this page.

Friday 17 May 2019, 09.00-18.00 hrs
Ecumenical Centre (WCC Building)
Closed civil society strategy meeting

WHO, civil society and “non-State actors”:
How to deal with a difficult relationship

This full-day civil society workshop builds on a session on WHO governance at the civil society meeting in January and will focus on some particular WHO governance processes/issues:

  • Reform of WHO Governing Bodies and perspectives of a further shrinking space for civil society
  • Interaction of the new WHO leadership with various “civil society” teams and in various processes: Representation and legitimacy issues
  • WHO engagement with non-State actors, FENSA evaluation
  • Strategies of the new WHO leadership for engaging with non-State actors (“partners”) including philanthropic foundations and the private sector based on / beyond FENSA

The workshop is organized by the G2H2 working group on WHO and global health governance and financing. It shall allow deepening the analysis (what’s the problem) and moving towards strategizing and cooperating (what needs to be done, what we can do together). The workshop is closed, for civil society organizations only (G2H2 members or by invitation).

Workshop followed by a reception

Venue and contact: Friday

The Friday workshop will take place at the Ecumenical Centre, Route de Ferney 150, Grand-Saconnex, Geneva, and is kindly hosted by the World Council of Churches.

Saturday 18 May 2019, 08.30-10.30 hrs
Maison des Associations
G2H2 Annual General Meeting (members only)

G2H2 members have been invited to the AGM by e-mail.
The documentation is available on Dropbox and can be ordered again at the secretariat.
See our Annual Report 2018.

Saturday 18 May 2019, 10.45-16.00 hrs
Maison des Associations
Series of public briefings and debates with invited guests

Civil society perspectives on selected global health topics:
72nd World Health Assembly and beyond

11.00-12.00 hrs
Universal Health Coverage, Privatization and Power

Universal health coverage (UHC) means “that all people and communities can use the promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative health services they need, of sufficient quality to be effective, while also ensuring that the use of these services does not expose the user to financial hardship.”

There is not much to oppose to this task, though. Indeed, 40 years after Alma-Ata, Universal Health Coverage could be understood as a today’s expression of the promotion of universal access to health care. But how to get there? The dominating “multistakeholder” paradigm in the discourse on UHC tends to neglect/disguise the adverse impact of financialization, privatisation, commodification and commercialisation of health services on universal access to health care.

Therefore, how UHC is framed by UHC2030, WHO and World Bank in their preparation of the 2019 UN High-Level Meeting still needs and deserves a critical assessment.

This session is dedicated to Amit Sengupta, PHM (1958-2018).

12.00-13.00 hrs
Who cares about/for Planetary Health?

A draft “WHO global strategy on health, environment and climate change: the transformation needed to improve lives and well-being sustainably through healthy environments” will be discussed at the World Health Assembly, together with an “Global plan of action on climate change and health in small island developing States”. WHO’s work in the field of environment, climate change and health rightly acknowledges the multi-dimensional nature of the ecological crisis, and the fact that “we must live within Earth’s limits”.

But is the WHO strategy more than “active-sounding phrases that suggest action without actually delivering it”, as a civil society colleague recently stated? The World Health Organization – and civil society organizations dealing with global health – still need to prove that they care about and for planetary health, with the urgency and dedication needed.

13.00-14.00 hrs
Lunch break

14.00-15.00 hrs
Fair medicine prices and expanded access for all:
What leadership and guidance can be expected from WHO?

A joint statement signed by 64 civil society organizations issued on 10 April 2019 on the occasion of the WHO’s second Fair Pricing Forum states that there cannot be fair prices of medicines without affordable access and transparency of research and development (R&D) outlays, manufacturing costs, and pricing decisions.

At the 144th Session of the WHO EB in January 2019, civil society organizations rejected WHO’s definition of “fair price” used in the draft “Road Map for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and other Health Products, 2019-2013”. The Road Map and a transparency proposal from the Italian government will be considered again at the World Health Assembly in the form of a resolution – and probably opposed by some governments and pharmaceutical companies.

What leadership can be expected from the WHO in the promotion of affordable access to medicines, and how to counter the power of the pharmaceutical lobby?

15.00-16.00 hrs
How to influence the Global Action Plan on Healthy Lives
and Well-being (GAP)? The case of HRH

The Global Action Plan is an important new initiative to align global health actors to achieve SDG3 and move towards UHC. While many civil society organizations support the initiative, possibility for CSO input and strategizing on the GAP has been limited to date. As the timeline for the UN High-Level Meeting on UHC is similar to the GAP, it is timely to discuss it now. In this session, we will discuss the experience of participating in the GAP process using the example of human resources for health.

Saturday 18 May 2019, 16.15-17.30 hrs
Closed civil society roundtables

Civil society perspectives on selected global health topics:
From analysing and sharing to strategizing and cooperating

Four parallel roundtables will compliment the series of public briefings and debates and shall allow deepening the analysis (what’s the problem) and moving towards strategizing and cooperating (what needs to be done, what we can do together). This session is closed, for civil society organizations only (G2H2 members and other contacts, by invitation)

Venue and contact: Saturday

The Saturday sessions will take place at the Maison Internationale des Associations (www.mia-ge.ch), Rue des Savoises 15, Geneva (South of Rhone river, near Plainpalais)

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