At around 6:30 PM CEST on Friday, 19 September 2025, relevant stakeholders were invited to observe the closure of the second meeting of the open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement and witnessed WHO Member States set an important precedent on transparency. After over two hours of intense and productive discussions on the modalities for engagement of relevant stakeholders, the WHO IGWG agreed to the following:
“subject to further consultation and confirmation at the opening of the IGWG3, with regard to its method of work, to invite Relevant Stakeholders (Annexes A-E) to observe discussions of the IGWG3, as a pilot, in relation to the drafting and negotiation of the PABS Annex.”
Consequently, at its 3rd meeting from 3-7 November 2025, entities including WIPO, South Centre, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the Global Fund, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Knowledge Ecology International, Médecins Sans Frontières International, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations, Africa CDC, Unitaid, World Trade Organization, Biotechnology Innovation Organization, Born Free Foundation, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, International Peace Institute, and Medicines Law and Policy will be able to observe the drafting and negotiation of the PABS Annex.
In his closing statement, WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus welcomed the enhanced participation of stakeholders in the November PABS negotiations noting that this “would give ownership to all stakeholders”.
Earlier in the week, KEI had called for more transparency in the WHO pathogen access and benefit sharing system (PABS) negotiations, a message echoed by Medicines Law & Policy and Member States including the Group for Equity and Brazil in its national capacity.
Indonesia on behalf of the 36 members of the Group for Equity said: “The Group also proposes enhancing the participation of relevant stakeholders in the IGWG. As a first step, we suggest allowing relevant stakeholders to follow the informal meeting of the IGWG in October and the IGWG-3 in November as observers.”
Brazil in its national capacity stated:
Brazil fully supports the statement delivered by Indonesia on behalf of 36 countries of the Group for Equity.
We want to stress four points.
First, participation of stakeholders is essential to promote the transparency and accountability that are indispensable for this process. Allowing relevant stakeholders to observe IGWG meetings would be a practical and immediate step in that direction. Transparency is not a threat to Member States—it is a safeguard for trust.
The draft report of the second IGWG meeting can be found here: IGWG2 Draft report for circulation ON SCREEN. The pdf version can be found here: IGWG2 Draft report for circulation ON SCREEN.docx (1)