First round of public hearings
During a Special Session of the World Health Assembly held in December 2021, WHO Member States agreed to establish an intergovernmental negotiating body (INB) to draft and negotiate a WHO convention, agreement, or other international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
The Health Assembly asked that the WHO Secretariat support the work of the INB, including by holding public hearings.
The first public hearing was held on 12-13 April 2022 and featured both a spoken component (through videoconference technology); and a written component (through a dedicated web portal).
While all contributions to the public hearings are being moderated by the WHO Secretariat in line with the applicable terms and standard WHO practice, no contributions received or presented as part of the hearings should be interpreted as reflecting the view or position of WHO on any matter. In that regard, any designations employed do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the WHO Secretariat concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or of its authorities, and terminology used in the contributions may be at variance with that used by WHO.
Livestream of the first round of public hearings of 12-13 April 2022
Written contributions
Written inputs received for the first round of public hearings and which are receivable per the terms of participation are provided at the link below. To respect privacy and personal data, contributors’ names and email addresses are not displayed.
Key aspects of components
A summary of key aspects of each component for the first round of public hearings is provided below:
| Spoken Component | Written component | |
| Participation | Interested stakeholders (as defined below) | The general public, as well as interested stakeholders |
| Time/word limits | 2 minutes maximum, at reasonable pace to allow for interpretation (approximately 220 words) | 250 words maximum |
| Language(s) of contributions | In any of the six official WHO languages (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, Spanish) | In any language, however no translation provided by WHO |
| Participant registration/submission of contribution? | Any interested stakeholder could express their wish to register. | Any interested stakeholder could submit a written statement subject to applicable terms. |
| Terms of participation | Per the terms of participation. | Per the terms of participation. |
| Broadcasting/archiving of contributions | Spoken contributions broadcast and archived on the WHO website. All persons and entities, including those who were not speakers, invited to follow the webcast, broadcast from the WHO website. | Written contributions are available from this page. |