On Tuesday, 16 September 2025, Knowledge Ecology International (KEI) delivered the following opening statement at the Second meeting of the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
Second meeting of the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
The secrecy that surrounds negotiations on the WHO pandemic treaty undermines trust in the WHO, and enables misinformation to have more impact.
It would be better for all concerned to follow the lead of WIPO and webcast all plenary sessions.
WIPO allows accredited participants to follow some of the informals, under an agreement to not share information on social media. The WHO could do better and allow the sharing of information from informals under the Chatham House rule, so that the public has information about what issues divide negotiators, and why.
The daily sharing of negotiating texts, in the previous sessions, was an important improvement, and should continue.