Decisions
SEA/RC73(1) SPECIAL PROCEDURES TO REGULATE THE CONDUCT OF THE SEVENTY-THIRD SESSION OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE FOR SOUTH-EAST ASIA The Regional Committee decided to adopt the Special Procedures to regulate the conduct of the virtual Seventy-third Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, set out in the Annex to this Decision. Annex Special Procedures to regulate the conduct of the Seventy-third Session of the Regional Committee for South-East Asia RULES OF PROCEDURE 1. The Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee for South-East Asia will continue to apply in full, except to the extent that they are inconsistent with these Special Procedures, in which case the Regional Committee’s decision to adopt these Special Procedures will operate as a decision to suspend the relevant Rules of Procedure to the extent necessary, in accordance with Rule 50 of the Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee.1 ATTENDANCE 2. Attendance by Member States of the South-East Asia Region, invited representatives of the United Nations, its Specialized Agencies and other regional international organizations as well as nongovernmental organizations, international business associations and philanthropic foundations in official relations with WHO, will be through videoconference or other electronic means. ADDRESSING THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE 3. Member States, invited representatives of the United Nations, its specialized agencies and other regional international organizations as well as nongovernmental organizations, international business associations and philanthropic foundations in official relations with WHO are invited to submit written statements on items 7 through 13 of the Provisional Agenda of the Seventy-third Session of the Regional Committee. Written statements may be submitted until the opening of the session and will be reflected in the report of the Regional Committee Session. 4. Member States will also have the opportunity, if they so wish, to submit pre-recorded video statements of no more than seven minutes in duration in advance of the opening of the session under the Agenda Item 5: ‘Key Addresses and report on the work of WHO’. Those video statements will be available on the website and will be broadcast at the virtual meeting in lieu of a live intervention. 5. During the virtual session Member States will be provided with the opportunity to take the floor. Invited representatives of the United Nations, its specialized agencies and other regional international organizations as well as nongovernmental organizations, international business associations and philanthropic foundations in official relations with WHO may be given the floor at the invitation of the Chairperson or on her or his acceding to a request from the organization concerned. 1 This will affect notably the relevant provisions of the following Rules of Procedure of the Regional Committee for South-East Asia: - Rule 3 bis (credentials) - Rules 42 and 46-48 (show of hands and secret ballot); - Rule 51 (amendments of and additions to the Rules of Procedure). 6. Any representative wishing to take the floor should signal their wish to speak2. Any Member wishing to raise a point of order or exercise a right of reply in relation to a statement made at the virtual session of the Regional Committee should signal their intention to do so3. The right of reply shall be exercised at the end of the relevant virtual meeting. Any Member wishing to exercise a right of reply in relation to a written statement or pre-recorded video statement not broadcast at the virtual meeting should do so in writing as soon as possible and, in any case, no later than 10 working days following closure of the Regional Committee Session. A Member wishing to respond to such a reply should do so in writing as soon as possible and, in any case, no later than 10 working days following the posting of the reply. CREDENTIALS 7. Member States should communicate to the Regional Director, South-East Asia Region, the names of their representatives, including all alternates and advisers, if possible, no later than 6 August 2020. 8. In addition, the electronic scanned copies of credentials, as per the format, should be sent to the Regional Office in advance of the commencement of the Regional Committee Session, not later than CoB 1 September 2020. 9. The Officers of the Seventy-second session of the Regional Committee will assess whether credentials of Members are in conformity with the requirements of the Rules of Procedure and will report to the Regional Committee accordingly with a view to the Regional Committee making a decision thereon. MEETINGS 10. All meetings of the Regional Committee will be held in public. DECISION-MAKING 11. All decisions of the Regional Committee and taken in virtual meetings should, as far as possible, be taken by consensus. In any event, given the virtual nature of the meeting, no decision will be taken by show of hands or by secret ballot. In the event of a roll-call vote, and in line with normal practice, should any delegate fail to cast a vote for any reason during the roll-call, that delegate shall be called upon a second time after the conclusion of the initial roll-call. Should the delegate fail to cast a vote on the second roll-call, the delegation shall be recorded as absent. REPORT OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE SESSION 12. Following the closure of the Session, the Secretariat will prepare a draft summary report of the session, reflecting the discussions on the various agenda items and containing the resolutions and decisions adopted, if any, and will circulate it electronically to all Members of the Region. Comments will be sent electronically to the Secretariat at a dedicated email address not later than fifteen days from the dispatch of the draft summary report. The Secretariat, following consultation with the Chairperson of the Regional Committee, will finalize the summary report, which will be considered to have been validly adopted by the Regional Committee. 2 Modalities for taking the floor will depend on the platform used for the virtual session and will be communicated in due course. 3 Modalities for raising points of order and exercising the right of reply will depend on the platform used for the virtual session and will be communicated in due course.
SEA/RC73(2) DRAFT GLOBAL ACTION PLAN ON PATIENT SAFETY The Regional Committee, Recalling World Health Assembly resolution WHA72.6 that requested the Director-General to formulate a Global Action Plan on Patient Safety in consultation with Member States and all relevant stakeholders, including in the private sector, for submission to the Seventy-fourth World Health Assembly in 2021 through the 148th session of the Executive Board, Taking note of the ongoing global process for the development of the Global Action Plan on Patient Safety, in which the Member States had actively participated, and Considering the specific recommendations of the High-Level Preparatory Meeting in 2020, Decided to request the Regional Director to convene a Regional Consultation with Member States and other relevant stakeholders to consider the draft Global Action Plan on Patient Safety with a view to prioritize regional patient safety actions aligned with the draft Global Action Plan, the Regional Patient Safety Strategy, and the country contexts.
SEA/RC73(3) TIME AND PLACE OF FUTURE SESSIONS OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEE The Committee welcomed with appreciation the invitation from the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal and decided to hold its Seventy-fourth Session in the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal from 6 to 10 September 2021. The Committee also noted with appreciation the invitation from the Royal Government of Bhutan to hold its Seventy-fifth Session in September 2022 in the Kingdom of Bhutan.