Our Co-Chair Mr Matthew Harpur, as well as Ambassador Tovar who will be joining tomorrow.
Our Vice-Chairs, Your Excellency Ambassador Dlamini, Dr Hanan, Ms Heyward, and Dr Viroj.
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, good afternoon and good evening, and thank you all for joining us for this fourth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement.
Thank you for your continued commitment to fulfilling the promise of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, through the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing system.
IGWG 3 was a key moment, where under the leadership of the Bureau, you started text-based negotiations.
Since then, I know you have had many informal discussions and meetings.
Last week’s informal dialogues had the participation of industry, research and academic institutions, laboratories, and other relevant partners.
It offered an opportunity to discuss real-world perspectives of what is needed from the PABS system.
I would like to reiterate my comments from our last meeting, to please not wait until the final moments before the World Health Assembly to get this done.
I urge you to forge a compromise over a text by the end of this year – and hopefully, even by the end of this week.
After this week, there are only two more meetings and 12 negotiating days before the World Health Assembly. It’s not a long period.
These should be used to sort out details rather than core concepts.
This week will be critical to achieving consensus and moving the process forward.
I am encouraged by the calls I have heard from the IGWG Bureau and Membership to start yellowing the text this week.
Please also make the most of the evening informal sessions and breaks to better understand each other, find solutions and move towards convergence.
The world is looking to you to get this done. I know it is not easy, but it is achievable.
The world cannot afford to lose this opportunity and risk being underprepared for the next pandemic.
I am confident that you can and will get it done, and I continue to offer whatever support is needed from the Secretariat.
Thank you.