The EU Signs Up to Steer PABS Negotiations, Amprou of France Elected Co-Chair

Readers,

In this edition, we bring you a preliminary update on the negotiations on the Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing system, that began in Geneva this week.

As per practice, my colleague Nishant has pulled together statements from countries and relevant stakeholders for you to parse through.

More from us in the coming days.

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I. IGWG9 UPDATE

The EU Signs Up to Steer PABS Negotiations, Amprou of France Elected Co-Chair

By Priti Patnaik & Nishant Sirohi

WHO member states have convened in Geneva this month during November 2^nd-13th for the latest round of the talks to negotiate a Pathogen Access Benefit Sharing system for global health.

This morning, countries elected Anne-Claire Amprou as the co-chair of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) set up to negotiate PABS - an annex to the Pandemic Agreement. This was following her nomination by the European region for the position. Amprou is the French Ambassador for Global Health and the Chair of Unitaid Executive board. She was also one of the co-chairs of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body, when countries reached consensus on the Pandemic Agreement in April 2025.

She joins Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes of Brazil as Co-Chair, and Vice-Chairs including Ambassador Vuyile Dlamini of Eswatini, Viroj Tangcharoensathien from Thailand, and Ahmed Bin Salem Al Mandhari from Oman. (The Western Pacific region is yet to nominate a member for the Bureau.)

The election of Amprou, sends a decisive signal not only of France’s commitments to the negotiations, but to also restore a balance within the Bureau, sources following the process said.

“As the only woman in the Bureau currently, it restores a much needed gender balance,” a senior diplomat told us yesterday.

But not only the gender balance, there is more.