Your Excellency Ambassador Justin Viard,
Your Excellency Ambassador Henri Monceau,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Bonjour à toutes et à tous,
It is a pleasure to welcome you all today.
I thank Your Excellencies Ambassadors Viard and Monceau for convening today's important discussion.
The Francophone community brings a unique voice to multilateralism and global health.
While bound by a common language, the Francophonie represents a diversity of geographies and economies, cultures, histories and experiences.
However diverse, Francophone countries share values of multilateralism, science and equity.
These values were reflected in the Djerba declaration of Heads of States and Governments under the presidency of Tunisia, in 2022.
The declaration called for full mobilization to ensure equitable access to health, and to pandemic preparedness.
These commitments are highlighted in the ongoing negotiations of the Pandemic Agreement.
The Agreement underscores the critical need for sharing data, equitable access to vaccines and other life-saving pandemic tools, and a comprehensive multisectoral approach.
While challenges persist, our collective commitment remains resolute – and I thank those of you who came to our briefing yesterday.
We have made significant strides since December 2021, overcoming many obstacles and demonstrating remarkable unity, within the Francophone region and beyond.
As Ambassador Jérôme said yesterday, we must get this done for reasons of global health security, but also as a sign that in our troubled times, multilateralism still works.
Thank you all for your commitment to finalizing this generational agreement before the World Health Assembly.
As you know, the Assembly will also consider the 14th General Programme of Work.
The next four years are an important opportunity to advance health equity and strengthen health systems worldwide.
The GPW14 builds on the achievements of GPW13, as we move forward in our collective commitment to achieving universal health coverage and health-related Sustainable Development Goals.
And as we lay the groundwork for a more resilient global health landscape, the launch of the WHO Academy marks a significant milestone.
With innovative educational tools and strategic partnerships, the WHO Academy will empower health workers worldwide to address evolving health challenges, including better preparation for future pandemics.
This marks a significant step in ensuring that WHO’s commitment to multilingualism also translates into global access to the highest quality learning in multiple languages, including French.
I look forward to high-level representation of OIF countries at the official opening of the Academy in December this year, in Lyon.
This will take place only a few weeks after the Conference of Heads of States and Governments of the OIF, under the presidency of France, in October – an opportunity, we hope, for the leader’s declaration to welcome the Pandemic Accord.
Thank you all once again for your continued support for WHO, and for global health.
I look forward to our discussions.
I now give the floor to Dr Jaouad Mahjour for his presentation on the negotiations of the Pandemic Accord.
Merci beaucoup.