WHO Director-General's opening remarks at the Third Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement – 3 November 2025

Our Co-Chairs, Your Excellency Ambassador Tovar of Brazil and Mr Matthew Harpur of the United Kingdom;

Our Vice-Chairs, Your Excellency Ambassador Dlamini, Dr Hanan, Dr Viroj and Ms Heyward;

Honourable Members of the IGWG,

Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,

Welcome back to WHO, and thank you all for your continuing commitment to this process.

My thanks especially to the Bureau for its hard work in developing the draft text of the PABS Annex that you will consider this week.

The draft is a genuine attempt by the Bureau to find as much middle ground as possible, based on the input of Member States and relevant stakeholders.

But of course, a first draft is just that, a first draft, and we all know that further discussions will be needed to bring views and positions closer together.

Bringing it to completion will require you all to engage in open and frank discussion, and to find compromise and flexibility.

You did it before, in reaching agreement on the Pandemic Agreement, including Article 12, which shows that PABS is already a concept that is accepted as a core element of pandemic preparedness and response.

There are only three meetings left after this one.

I urge you not to wait until the hard deadline of April 2026, but to push to have a draft text you all could accept by the end of this year, providing ample time to refine it in the coming year.

I have a simple request for you: please, get this done for our world - for all people in all countries. Because as COVID-19 taught us, no one is safe until everyone is safe.

Solidarity is our best immunity. Finalizing the Pandemic Agreement is our collective promise to protect humanity.

The next pandemic is not a question of if, but when, and we must be ready.

I thank you.