|| Sunday: September 03: 2023 || ά. The World Health Organisation:WHO has launched the WHO Civil Society Commission and held the inaugural meeting of its Steering Committee in Geneva at the end of August. The Commission provides, for the first time, the ability to channel advice and recommendations in a more structured and systematic manner from civil society to WHO on health priorities and related issues. 

The historical role of civil society organisations:CSOs, in bringing about change in public health is well-known. While WHO has a long-standing tradition of working with CSOs, the establishment of the Commission takes the collaboration to a new level. This meeting was opened by Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, and the meeting brought together the members of the Steering Committee, consisting of 22 diverse civil society organisations from the Commission, working on health and other sectors. Full membership of the Commission itself will be announced in the coming days. 

The Commission’s mandate is to strengthen dialogue and foster collaboration with WHO and among the partners. It will provide recommendations to support WHO in this engagement at all levels towards the achievement of universal health coverage, as well as, the Sustainable Development Goals.  The launch of the Commission is the Director-General’s response to civil society requests to explore better and more meaningful ways to engage with WHO above and beyond those, which already exist.

“We know from our experience in so many areas that listening to and responding to the voices of the communities we serve is essential to properly addressing the health challenges they face.” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. ”We have set up the WHO Civil Society Commission to bring civil society from different backgrounds together to advise us and work with us so that we can learn from you and be guided by your ideas.”

The Steering Committee will provide overall strategic direction for the full Commission and lead the development of its main deliverables. It will convey advice and recommendations from civil society through regular engagement with the Director-General and senior WHO leadership.

During the meeting, the WHO Director-General encouraged the Steering Committee to consult with all Commission members and set priorities, based on what they learn. He asked for guidance in developing a WHO civil society engagement strategy and in such key organisational priorities as WHO’s next three-year plan: the 14th General Programme of Work will be approved by Member States in May 2024 and guide the work of the organisation from 2025-2028. 

Over 350 Organisations have so far applied to be part of the Commission. Today, WHO, will begin to notify the 120 organisations, that have been accepted so far. Others will be notified in the coming weeks. A list of participants can be found of the WHO website and will be regularly updated. The application process will remain open and organisations, that wish to apply to join the Commission are encouraged to do so. 

“This is a historic opportunity for close collaboration between WHO and CSOs around the world, and we are excited that many organisations will have an active role.” Said the Steering Committee Civil Society Co-chairs Ms Lisa Hilmi, CORE group and Mr Ravi Ram, Medwise Solutions. “We welcome all civil society organisations, committed to improve global health to join the WHO CSO Commission and look forward to their engagement and thought leadership for addressing critical health issues.”

Organisations, that meet the criteria in the Terms of Reference for the Civil Society Commission may apply to join the WHO Civil Society Commission. The application can be accessed on the WHO website for the Civil Society Commission; there is no cut-off date for applications.

WHO Civil Society Commission

The mission of the WHO Civil Society Commission is to strengthen dialogue, foster collaboration and provide recommendations to support WHO on its engagement with civil society at global, regional and national levels to achieve health for all and the objectives of the WHO General Programme of Work as well as to accelerate attainment of health-related SDGs.

Its goal is, taking into consideration the civil society’s voices available to WHO, to support WHO’s efforts towards improving engagement between WHO and civil society at global, regional and national levels, rendering it more systematic with the aim of advancing WHO’s work and public health outcomes.

The Civil Society Commission is a WHO network consisting of a Steering Committee, a General Meeting and Working Groups. Overall strategic direction and main deliverables for the work of the WHO Civil Society Commission will be provided by its Steering Committee of maximum 25 members. Its responsibilities include supporting the development of the overall WHO Civil Society Commission workplans and strategies and coordinate the general meetings. It meets four times a year.

The annual general meeting of all the WHO Civil Society Commission participants will take place once a year in hybrid or virtual format, and it will review the Commission annual reports as well as proposed work plans. The participants will, also, have a possibility to propose or join working groups, which are set up for the purpose of sharing information and collectively working on specific issues that align with the WHO Civil Society Commission’s overall mission and objectives. WHO will act as its Secretariat and facilitate and support all the work of the Commission.

Caption: WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, chairs the launch of the WHO Civil Society Commission Steering Committee in Geneva, Switzerland on August 24: 2023: Image: WHO :::ω:::  

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