Provisional agenda (annotated)

EXECUTIVE BOARD EB149/1 (annotated) 149th session 7 April 2021 Geneva, 2 June 2021 Provisional agenda (annotated) 1. Election of Chair, Vice-Chairs and Rapporteur 2. Opening of the session and adoption of the agenda1 3. Outcome of the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly 4. Report of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee of the Executive Board The Board will receive at the opening of its session the report of the thirty-fourth meeting of the Programme, Budget and Administration Committee, which is scheduled to be held from Wednesday 19 May to Friday 21 May, 2021. Pillar 4: More effective and efficient WHO providing better support to countries 5. Managerial, administrative and financial matters 5.1 WHO reform • Written statements: guidelines for Member States In decision EB146(17) (2020), the Executive Board decided that the guidelines on written statements would be applied on a trial basis until the closure of the 149th session of the Board. The Board will be invited to consider the Director-General’s report on the use, on a trial basis, of these guidelines, and provide guidance on any lessons to be learned from their use so far, including any adjustments needed to the text of the guidelines, and on their continued application. 5.2 Process for the election of the Director-General of the World Health Organization Pursuant to resolution WHA66.18 (2013) and decision WHA73(27) (2020), two candidates’ forums open to all Member States and Associate Members will be convened as non-decision-making platforms to enable candidates for the post of Director-General to make themselves and their vision known to Member States on an equal basis. The Board will be invited to decide the dates of the candidates’ forums and the detailed arrangements for the conduct of the interviews of candidates at the first candidates’ forum, as well as to consider contingency arrangements in the event that the forums and the 150th session of the Executive Board were to be held virtually. 1 In the context of the restrictions imposed in response to the pandemic of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), and through a written silence procedure, the Executive Board has approved the arrangements for a virtual session of the Executive Board to be held, using video conferencing technology. EB149/1 (annotated) 2 5.3 Evaluation: annual report In line with the current evaluation policy, approved by the Executive Board in decision EB143(9) (2018), an annual report on evaluation will be presented to the Board through its Programme, Budget and Administration Committee. The report will describe progress made in the implementation of the Organization-wide evaluation workplan for 2020–2021, and will document organizational learning. 5.4 Hosted partnerships In decision EB132(10) (2013), the Executive Board requested its Programme, Budget and Administration Committee, inter alia, to ensure that the arrangements for hosted health partnerships are regularly reviewed on a case-by-case and timely basis in respect of their contributions to improved health outcomes, WHO’s interaction with individual hosted partnerships, and the harmonization of their work with the work of WHO; and to make recommendations for the consideration of the Board, as appropriate, through a standing item on the subject on the Board’s agenda. • Proposals for WHO to host formal partnerships [if any] • Report on hosted partnerships The Director-General will provide the Board with a general update on hosted partnerships. • Review of hosted partnerships The Director-General will provide the Board with a report on Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research in the context of the periodic review of arrangements for hosted health partnerships mentioned above. 5.5 Committees of the Executive Board: filling of vacancies This is a standing item. 5.6 Membership of the Independent Expert Oversight Advisory Committee The Board will be invited to consider a report by the Secretariat on the membership of the Independent Expert Oversight Advisory Committee. 5.7 Amendments to the Financial Regulations and Financial Rules [if any] 6. Staffing matters 6.1 Statement by the representative of the WHO staff associations This is a standing item. 6.2 Amendments to the Staff Regulations and Staff Rules [if any] 7. Matters for information 7.1 Report on meetings of expert committees and study groups In compliance with Regulation 4.23 of the Regulations for Expert Advisory Panels and Committees, the Director-General will submit to the Board for its consideration his report on meetings of expert committees and EB149/1 (annotated) 3 study groups, including a summary of the recommendations contained in the reports of expert committees and his observations on their significance for public health policies and implications for the Organization’s programmes. 8. Future sessions of the Executive Board and the Health Assembly This is a standing item. 9. Closure of the session Note: 1. At their virtual meeting with the Director-General on 31 March 2021, convened in accordance with Rule 8 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board, the Officers of the Executive Board discussed, among other things, proposals for items to be added to the Provisional agenda of the 149th session of the Executive Board and made a number of recommendations. 2. The Secretariat noted that the May session of the Executive Board – which, on this occasion would last a single day – generally focussed on administrative, management and governance matters; moreover, the items already on draft Provisional agenda for the Executive Board’s 149th session was likely to take a full day to discuss. 3. The Chair explained that six proposals for new agenda items had been received from Member States. However, two of the proposals were incomplete, as they did not contain an explanatory memorandum as required by Rule 9 of the Rules of Procedure of the Executive Board, and a third had been received after the deadline of 24 March. He proposed that the Officers should not discuss proposals that were either incomplete or late, but rather consider individually the three proposals submitted in line with the Rules of Procedure. He further proposed that in considering each of the three proposals the Officers choose one of five options, recommending that the proposals be: (1) accepted onto the agenda; (2) combined with another agenda item; (3) deferred to a future session; (4) referred to another governing body; or (5) not accepted. 4. In support of the process, the Secretariat had circulated the template that was requested by the 144th session of the Executive Board, which invited the Officers to consider several elements, including whether the proposed items addressed a global public health issue, a new subject within the scope of WHO, or an issue that represents a significant public health burden. 5. The template also asked the Officers, in formulating their recommendations, to take into consideration the following elements: the last time the proposed item had been considered by the governing bodies; any work performed currently by WHO in relation to the proposed item; and the existence of reporting requirements in relation to the proposed item. 6. Agreeing to proceed in that manner, the Officers considered the following proposals: • two additional items had been proposed that the Secretariat had suggested could be taken up together namely; – “Global Health for Peace Initiative” and “The Coalition for Universal Health Protection Architecture Initiative”, both proposed by the Government of Oman. During the discussions, the Officers recognized the importance and urgency of the first proposal, which involved using health as a bridge for peace in conflict-affected countries; however, they were conscious that the agenda of the one-day May session of the Board was already very full. They also expressed the view that in trying to consider a technical matter at a meeting that was traditionally devoted to non-technical issues, the May Board would run the risk of not doing justice to such an important subject. The Officers recommended that consideration of the two items should be deferred to the 150th session of the Executive Board, with the first to be presented as a standalone item and the second to be integrated into current reporting concerning preparedness and response in respect of public health emergencies. EB149/1 (annotated) 4 • in respect of the proposed additional item on “Hosted Partnership on Digital Health”, proposed by the Government of India, the Officers heard from the Legal Counsel that the policy on WHO’s engagement with global health partnerships and hosting arrangements, endorsed by the Health Assembly in 2010 through resolution WHA63.10, included a process that was embodied in a “decision tree” that needed to be followed in order for a partnership proposal to be considered by the Executive Board. Under the process, it was for the Director-General, rather than Member States, to submit partnership proposals to the Executive Board for its consideration. On that basis, it was premature for the Executive Board to consider the current proposal. Although they considered that the initiative in question was promising, the Officers recognized the importance of following established processes for due diligence and recommended that the proposed item not be accepted onto the Provisional agenda of the Executive Board’s 149th session. The Director-General undertook to initiate discussions with the Government of India and other interested parties for further consideration. In that context, it would be important to explore whether viable options existed other than a hosted partnership. 7. There were, therefore, no changes to be made to the Provisional agenda of the 149th session of the Executive Board. = = =