Delivered at the Fifth Meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG 5; 9-14 Feb. 2026).
Rani (Resilience Action Network International) welcomes the start of IGWG 5 – a critical week of negotiations in which we need to see further alignment and progress towards a final text. We are counting on Member States to find solutions to deliver an equitable and effective PABS Annex for this year’s World Health Assembly.
The PABS Annex remains vital to building a more equitable ecosystem for access to countermeasures, and we call on high income countries in particular to hold themselves accountable to the promises they made to right the egregious wrongs of the COVID pandemic. Landing a final PABS Annex will also be key to advancing the many gains for global solidarity achieved in the Pandemic Agreement – for supply chains, surveillance, R&D, clinical trials, coordinated financing, and more. At a time of increased geopolitical tensions and threats to multilateralism, we need solidarity for health security more than ever, and we are counting on countries to deliver a positive result.
For our part, as civil society we commit to working with you towards this goal, being on hand to provide access to expertise in our networks, and to helping get the Pandemic Agreement ratified, when that time comes.
As we look toward the UN High-level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention Preparedness and Response this September, WHO Member States must keep up the momentum and drive tangible action for our shared resilience.
