Cross-posted from: PHM Exchange <http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch/eb132>
WHO Watch at the 132nd Executive Board a success in the continued struggle for ‘Health for All’
Monitoring by PHM activists at the WHO Executive Board demonstrates that continued advocacy is needed to hold the WHO and its member states accountable to the goal of ‘health for all’. The Global Health Watch is a fruitful project that has be strengthened, expanded to encompass national, regional, and global monitoring of health governance, and sustained to ensure that global health is democratized in a manner that will ensure the ‘right to health’.
PHM is part of the Democratising Global Health Initiative which runs the project ‘WHO Watch’. WHO Watch is a resource for advocacy and mobilisation as well as an intervention in global health governance. This entails a number of activities at the global, regional and country levels to hold member states accountable to the right to health. More on this project can be found at www.ghwatch.org/whowatch
The recent WHO Watch at the 132nd session of the WHO Executive Board in in Geneva span a two weeks period ( 18th – 29th January, 2013). Five (5) watchers were involved in the watching process , supported by members of the PHM global secretariat, members of the Democratising Global Health coalition and other civil society activists in and outside Geneva. The Watch was preceded by a three day workshop which provided an orientation for new watchers. It also enabled a meeting of the Democratising Global Health Governance Initiative in which activists jointly prepared timely interventions to deliver to the Board.
At the WHO Executive Board, PHM watchers distributed a critical public health analysis of the agenda to member state delegates (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_final%20comments.pdf ). This was offered to provide support, in particular for developing country delegations and those who did not have time to read the whole agenda (many delegations reported to the Board that they had not read the entire agenda, in part because of late delivery by the WHO Secretariat). Watchers also recorded the discussions of all the formal meetings of the Executive Board on a live Skype channel for all outside Geneva to follow. This was appreciated by many who could not physically attend the meetings, but were able to follow the discussions of the Board from wherever they were in the world! Daily reports of the proceedings were also uploaded on the ghwatch.org site and distributed through PHM Exchange (see ‘summary of proceedings’ for different dates at:
http://www.ghwatch.org/who-watch/eb132 ).
*Statements by the Watch team
*Watchers also delivered many interventions to the Board which were very diverse, covering many aspects of the agenda including:
1) non-communicable diseases (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO%20EB%20132_MMI_PHM_NCDs%20statement_complete.pdf ),
2) neglected tropical diseases (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO.EB132_NTD.MMI_.statement.pdf),
3) WHO reform (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB%20132_PHM%20statement_WHO%20reform_GPW%20PB.pdf ),
4) follow up to the CEWG report on research and development (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO%20EB%20132_MMI_PHM_GEWC%20statement.pdf ),
5) spurious medicines (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_SSFFC_PHM_statement.pdf),
6) the pandemic influenza preparedness framework (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_PIP%20statement.pdf),
7) universal health coverage(http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/EB132_PHM_UHC%20statement.pdf) and
8) the millennium development goals (http://www.ghwatch.org/sites/www.ghwatch.org/files/WHO%20EB%20132_MMI_PHM_MDGs%20statement.pdf ).
The importance of these interventions is drawn from the fact that the WHO Secretariat attempted to persuade PHM to alter its statements in nearly all of the interventions. PHM was not persuaded however and the interventions were timely, clear, and reflected the principles of the Peoples Health Charter. Many times the DG, Margaret Chan nodded her head in agreement with these statements, and at one point she explicitly recognised Third World Network, a PHM member, in its involvement in pandemic influenza SMTA2 negotiations. Watchers also distributed a daily analysis of the agenda items to delegates in the mornings. In the evening, watchers summarised the day’s discussions in a daily report and posted these on the ghwatch.org website and to the PHM global email list. The outcomes of the Executive Board meetings demonstrate that continued pressure must be put on WHO and its member states to protect public health and to remove the influence of the private sector. For example, the outcome of the Draft Action Plan for the Prevention and Control of NCDs 2013-2020 and the draft Mental Health Action Plan 2013-20 20 was that the Secretariat will hold informal discussions with NGOs and the private sector in March, with revisions of the plans to go to the World Health Assembly in May. The Secretariat asked member states to set and clarify the role of NGOS and the private sector. It is crucial that PHM becomes involved in the discussions and holds member states accountable so that corporate interests are not granted any role in these plans.
Strengthening the Watch for the future*
The 132 session WHO Watch was a success as PHM continued to shapen the deleibrations of member states and the WHO. The young activists were involved in the watching akcnowledged that the experience had deepened their understanding of the WHO processes and improved their capacity to analyse and interpret the WHO reports. The team environment was very supportive, which was needed in particular when the WHO Secretariat attempted to pressure and intimidates activists to change PHM statements.
The experience of working with other like-minded activists also was a huge platform for networking and building alliances. In terms of capacity building, activists who have completed this activity can clearly demonstrate the skills they have learnt and developed through their participation. The team environment and the sharing and rotation of roles and responsibilities made it possible for each member of the team to gain hands on experience in every department of the watchingprocess such as analysing documents from a critical public health perspective, engaging with delegates, recording and analysis of dicussions on the floor of the EB, as well as building networks at the global and country levels. With this experience, they are in a better position to train new activists at the country, regional and global levels.
The above notwithstanding, the watching process can always be improved in terms of what we do and how we do it. Regarding the pre Watch workshops, it is suggested that PHM invite more NGO activists as a way to facilitate alliances and make connections with delegates. Skype meetings a few weeks prior to arriving at the workshops will also enable activists from across the globe to connect with each other and potentially share contacts. The workshops could be expanded to four days to enable further time, but this dependents on resource availability . In terms of the structure of the workshops, an emphasis on the functions of the WHO such as who the WHO delegates are, how the WHO is structured, the relationship between delegates and Ministries of Health, and how the interaction at meetings takes place will help guide watchers, especially new activists. It is also important to clarify plan at the workshops, and the interventions PHM will make for each member of the watching team to be very clear about their roles at any given time, and to ensure that the work load is fairly distributed to the team.
There is a strong need to maintain and expand the participation of activists from developing countries. These activists are crucial because they can deliver a message from the ground. These are very powerful interventions. It has been observed that the Director General, WHO Secretariat and delegates have stopped what they have been doing and looked up to attentively and silently listen to the interventions from PHM activists, particular those from developing countries. The power of the voices from those who work at the ground level cannot be underestimated. Regarding the number of watchers, a minimum number of five for the Executive Board and seven for the World Health Assembly is optimal. Watch projects of other organisations that comprise global health governance is also needed, as well as at the regional and country levels.
Regarding advocacy with delegates, watchers identified this activity as the most difficult one which needs strengthening. This can be improved with more backgrounding on who the delegates are, and connecting those who have contacts with watchers as early as possible. Ideally, building relationships at the country level and linking this back to the watch in Geneva is crucial. In addition, PHM watchers need to make use of and build on connections through their networks with other NGO activists. Regarding logistics, the need to have watchers staying in one place is crucial. Affordability of accommodation is a constant issue. PHM needs to plan early to reduce costs, and potentially make use of connections wherever the Watch is taking place to further reduce accommodation costs.
The Global Health Watch project is fruitful in the struggle for ‘health for all’. It is foremost an intervention in global, regional and national health governance in which PHM engages directly with the organisations and actors that govern global health. It is also a source of mobilisation for activists to build alliances at these various levels and to make publicly available, in real time, the discussions and decisions of these governing bodies. It is further a source of capacity building for new activists, which can be a baptism by fire whereby activists witness the struggle for health play out in front of their eyes, they play a role in this struggle and they develop the skills and confidence to continue to play a role in this struggle.
Prepared by the Watchers Team in January 2013:
Alice Fabri
Belinda Townsend
Chiara Di Girolamo
Hor Sidua
Marianna Parisotto