The Institute Part of the World Health Organization Civil Society Commission

Dear Doctor/PhD members, Professional members, observers and other interested stakeholders,

The Institute is delighted to let you know that our application to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) Civil Society Commission has been reviewed and accepted.

The WHO Civil Society Commission was official launched by the WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on 24 August 2023, during the inaugural meeting of the Civil Society Commission Steering Committee.

VIDEO: WHO Director-General launching the WHO 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 4 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 initial priorities that were established by the WHO Civil Society Commission Steering Committee include the following:

• Establishing systems and good governance mechanisms for the WHO Civil Society Commission;

• Civil Society Engagement in the work of the Commission, particularly through working groups;

• Contribute to development of a WHO-CSO engagement strategy and implementation of the strategy at country, regional and global levels, in collaboration with WHO;

• Ensure meaningful CSO engagement on key WHO activities, including the development of WHO’s General Programme of Work #14 (GPW14);

• Collaboration with WHO at the global, regional, and country levels to enhance mutual understanding of how each entity works and “de-mystify” the role of CSOs in addressing health issues;

• Meaningfully engage with the WHO Youth Council and other civil society groups to find areas of common interest and alignment.

"The Institute has recently been accepted as a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Civil Society Commission."

- Dr . Weretelnik | Director of the Institute.

As a result of our preliminary internal discussions with members within the Institute, we have come to the conclusion that systematic attention must be given to the most vulnerable populations so that no one is left behind.

We will aim to do this through health diplomacy:

• Lobbying for participatory policy design, development and implementation processes,

• Strengthening citizen-led accountability mechanisms,

• Enabling public diplomacy practitioners working on health-related issues to have a voice at the national and global levels.

• providing recommendations to support WHO on its engagement with under-represented, under-served communities and minority groups at all 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

"I look forward to active participation of members in the new WHO Commission and valuable inputs and suggestions how to strengthen and institutionalize WHO’s engagement with civil society.

Institut de diplomatie publique as a participant 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.

We look forward to receiving your requests, inputs and suggestions that require attention and action by the Institute as part of its work with the Commission, particularly through working groups.The Institute will consider and prioritize the requests, inputs and suggestions in accordance with the considerations outlined in paragraph 2 of decision IPD-WHO SCC-1 and prepare recommendations to support WHO on its engagement with under-represented, under-served communities and minority groups for consideration by the Commission.

Requests, inputs and suggestions

Internal Discussion