Propelling Progress for Girls and Women – Women Deliver
The 74th World Health Assembly (WHA) was one of the most consequential assemblies in history. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the demands on the World Health Organization (WHO) have never been so significant. This year’s packed agenda reflected this reality, with more than 30 resolutions and decisions on weighty topics including pandemic preparedness and recovery, the health workforce, sustainable financing, and WHO reform. Across all of these issues, we were encouraged to see calls for attention on the needs of girls and women, in all their diversity, who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.
As COVID-19 took center stage, landmark independent evaluations from The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, the Independent Oversight and Advisory Committee (IOAC) for the WHO Health Emergencies Programme, and the report of the Review Committee on the Functioning of the International Health Regulations (2005) during the COVID-19 response offered recommendations for WHO and Member States to act on during the new phases of this pandemic and how to prepare for the next. The reports highlight the need for increased government funding for pandemic preparedness; rapid deployment of response funding; the establishment of a coordinated and transparent global surveillance and alert system; a voluntary lifting of patents or patent waivers; increased multilateral action and investment through instruments like the ACT-Accelerator; and for the reform and sustainable financing of the WHO in order to allow it to be more independent and agile. One of the most significant WHA outcomes was the agreement to hold a special session on the future of pandemic response and recovery in November 2021. The session will provide an opportunity to take up these recommendations, and we urge Member States to begin this work now so there can be concrete action in November.
In addition to COVID-19 discussions at the 74th WHA, we also kept a close eye on the deliberations that will have the greatest implications on the health and wellbeing of girls, women, and adolescents. Four areas are worth noting:
