15 June 2021: Promote civic space at the WHO and other UN bodies and agencies …and defend democratic multilateralism

MMI Policy Dialogue

All UN bodies and agencies including the World Health Organization have a role and responsibility in supporting civil society participation, protecting civil society actors from threats and attacks, and promoting an enabling environment for their work at national and international level, according to an important new Guidance Note recently issued under the UN Secretary General’s Call to Action for Human Rights.

Different parts of the UN have developed different approaches to civil society engagement, given that the right to participate, enshrined in international human rights law, also applies to international organisations. Involving communities in identifying  needs and the most suitable responses is not only the right thing to do, it will also make efforts more effective and build trust, an indispensable ingredient for successfully combating a pandemic.

While this reality is widely acknowledged, the institutional practices of UN entities’ engagement with communities and civil society is not always consistent with the right to participate.

Looking back at the realities of civic space at the 74th World Health Assembly and related conversations with the WHO Director-General, this session of the MMI policy dialogues 2021 provided an opportunity to compare the practice of the WHO in the promotion of civil society participation with other UN bodies and agencies and with civil society expectations. Doing so, we tried to overcome a merely “technical” approach, linking procedural debates with unresolved underlying issues of democratic governance and power both within the UN system and in civil society.

Session documentation

Session overview

• Recording: Zoom cloud
• Programme: Google doc
• Moderation slides: PPT as PDF

Speakers and presentations/inputs

• Birgit Kainz, Civic Space Unit, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
  Presentation: PPT as PDF
• Brid Brennan and Gonzalo Berrón, Transnational Institute
• Magdalena Ackermann, Society for International Development
• Meg Davis, Global Health Centre, The Graduate Institute
• Nicoletta Dentico, Geneva Global Health Hub and Society for International Development
• Ravi Ram, People’s Health Movement and Kampala Initiative
  Presentation: PPT as PDF
• Renu Khanna, Community of Practitioners on Accountability and Social Action in Health
  Presentation: PPT as PDF
• Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, World Health Organization
  Video message: Dropbox
• Thomas Schwarz, Medicus Mundi International – Network Health for All
  Input: Part 1 (Governing Bodies), illustrated  – Presentation:  PPT as PDF

…and watch the session recording.

Session contact

• Thomas Schwarz, MMI Executive Secretary
  schwarz@medicusmundi.org

References and resources
…as shared by participants

• UN System-wide guidance note on civic space
  https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CivicSpace/Pages/UNRoleCivicSpace.aspx
• UN Guidance Note on Civic Space, PDF
  https://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/CivicSpace/UN_Guidance_Note.pdf
• Infographic on Report of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights: Civil Society Engagement with International Organizations
  https://ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/CivicSpace/Stepping_stones_for_civil_society_engagement.pdf
• The UN Secretary-General’s Call to Action for Human Rights
  https://www.un.org/sg/sites/www.un.org.sg/files/atoms/files/The_Highest_Asperation_A_Call_To_Action_For_Human_Right_English.pdf
• OHCHR: Civic Space
  https://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/CivicSpace/Pages/UNRoleCivicSpace.aspx
• WHO DG : Dialogue on Social Participation, and follow-up
  https://www.g2h2.org/posts/socialaccountability
• G2H2 workshop May 2019, WHO, civil society and “non-State actors”: How to deal with a difficult relationship
  https://g2h2.org/posts/may2019/
• Civil society statement “Towards a more meaningful engagement of WHO with civil society
  https://g2h2.org/posts/may2019/
• Join Civil society in challenging the UN Food Systems Summit
  http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/29902http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/29902
• Why the Nutrition for Growth (N4G) global pledging initiative is a threat to child health how industry infiltrates the policy space
  http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/29638
• Sign on and show your support for Communities and Civil Society’s principles for engagement in the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A).
  https://www.globalfundadvocatesnetwork.org/tools-for-advocacy/covid-19-resources/act-accelerator-act-a/
• When the SUN casts a shadow – the human rights risks of multi-stakeholder partnerships
  http://www.babymilkaction.org/archives/24042 .
• The corporate capture of global governance and what we are doing about it
  https://www.tni.org/en/article/the-corporate-capture-of-global-governance-and-what-we-are-doing-about-it
• Report by Human Rights Watch on China’s capture of the UN human rights mechanisms, including the mechanism that selects and accredits civil society organizations via ECOSOC
  https://www.hrw.org/report/2017/09/05/costs-international-advocacy/chinas-interference-united-nations-human-rights
• Binding Treaty
  https://www.stopcorporateimpunity.org/binding-treaty-un-process/

Source: meeting chat
Feel free to contribute further references and resources to this collection.

Session co-organizers

• Community of Practitioners on Accountability and Social Action in Health COPASAH
• Geneva Global Health Hub G2H2
• Kampala Initiative
• People’s Health Movement PHM
• Public Services International PSI
• Society for International Development SID
• Transnational Institute TNI