Future sessions of the Executive Board and the Health Assembly: report by the Director-General

EXECUTIVE BOARD EB145/11 145th session 1 April 2019 Provisional agenda item 9 Future sessions of the Executive Board and the Health Assembly Report by the Director-General EXECUTIVE BOARD, 146TH SESSION 1. Article 26 of the Constitution of WHO provides that “The Board shall meet at least twice a year and shall determine the place of each meeting.” Rule 5 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board provides that the Board “shall determine at each session the time and place of its next session”. 2. It is proposed to convene the 146th session of the Executive Board on Monday, 20 January 2020, at WHO headquarters, Geneva, and to close the session no later than Saturday, 25 January 2020. It is further proposed that the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board should hold its thirty-first meeting from Wednesday to Friday, 15 to 17 January 2020, at WHO headquarters. 3. The draft provisional agenda of the 146th session of the Executive Board will be circulated to Member States for their consideration within four weeks of the closure of the 145th session, in accordance with Rule 8 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board. SEVENTY-THIRD WORLD HEALTH ASSEMBLY 4. Article 13 of the Constitution of WHO provides that “The Health Assembly shall meet in regular annual session”. Article 14 further provides that “The Health Assembly, at each annual session, shall select the country or region in which the next annual session shall be held, the Board subsequently fixing the place.” In accordance with Article 15, “The Board ... shall determine the date of each annual ... session.” In its decision WHA30(xvi), the Thirtieth World Health Assembly requested the Executive Board to fix the duration of each session. 5. Assuming that the Seventy-second World Health Assembly decides that the Seventy-third World Health Assembly should be held in Switzerland, it is proposed to convene the Seventy-third World Health Assembly on Monday, 18 May 2020 at the Palais des Nations and the International Conference Centre in Geneva, and to close the Health Assembly no later than Saturday, 23 May 2020. Should the Board agree to this, it is proposed that the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board should hold its thirty-second meeting from Wednesday, 13 May to Friday, 15 May 2020, at WHO headquarters. EB145/11 2 ACTION BY THE EXECUTIVE BOARD 6. The Board may wish to consider adoption of the following draft decisions: Decision 1: The Executive Board decided that its 146th session should be convened on Monday, 20 January 2020, at WHO headquarters, Geneva, and should close no later than Saturday, 25 January 2020. The Board further decided that the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board should hold its thirty-first meeting from Wednesday to Friday, 15 to 17 January 2020, at WHO headquarters. Decision 2: The Executive Board decided that the Seventy-third World Health Assembly should be held at the Palais des Nations and the International Conference Centre in Geneva, opening on Monday, 18 May 2020, and should close no later than Saturday, 23 May 2020. The Board further decided that the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board should hold its thirty-second meeting on Wednesday, 13 May to Friday, 15 May 2020, at WHO headquarters, Geneva. = = =