Pandemic Action Network’s statement regarding the the eighth Intergovernmental Negotiating Body’s (INB) draft pandemic agreement negotiating text. Provided as a written intervention to Member States following the Pandemic Agreement Civil Society Meetings.

This statement is on behalf of Pandemic Action Network, a global network of nearly 400 partners committed to collective action to prevent the next pandemic. 

Our message is to all parties to the agreement, all leaders, and concerns this last crucial phase of the negotiations.

Starting today, we urge you to bring the full breadth of civil society into the negotiations until the process is concluded — and beyond. 

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and without the feedback from the community groups, healthcare workers, and groups from across civil society, solutions will be incomplete and we will not achieve the level of ambition needed to go beyond business as usual.

On the content, we are pushing for ambitious outcomes for the pandemic agreement:

• Equitable access. We want to see structural change that addresses the sharing of know-how and technology, not a solution based on charity and structural inequalities.
• Accountability and institutional arrangements. We want to see a COP-like process for pandemics — as we have for climate change — to elevate this issue to the level it needs and deserves.
• We are also following gender, One Health, and the debate around financing. On the latter, we want Member States to fulfil the promise of the Pandemic Fund and existing arrangements.

These demands echo calls-to-action shared directly with member states: 

Pandemic Action Network and nearly 100 Network partners urged Member States to ensure the final pandemic agreement text incorporates and reaffirms existing human rights obligations, including the right to the highest attainable standard of health and to enjoy the benefits of scientific progress and its applications. Read the full letter. 

The Elders, The Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response, The Panel for a Global Public Health Convention, Spark Street Advisors, and Pandemic Action Network also came together to urge leaders to ensure an effective, legally-binding pandemic accord. Safeguarding our world against the worst consequences of pandemics is simply too important, and this historic moment cannot be missed. Read the full letter.

Thank you.