Africa: General Assembly Adopts Pandemic Declaration, but Not By Consensus

What the report says

The UN General Assembly has adopted a political declaration on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, according to UN News as distributed by AllAfrica. The vote on Monday in New York was 153 in favour, with three against — Argentina, Israel and the United States — and two abstentions, New Zealand and Paraguay.

The declaration had originally been expected to pass by consensus at a high-level meeting on 25 September, but objections from the United States and several other states prevented that outcome and sent the matter back to the Assembly. The text is non-binding, but it sets out member states’ broad political commitments on future pandemic cooperation.

The declaration calls for stronger national, regional and international coordination, and says such work should be guided by science, equity and respect for human rights. It also welcomes last year’s adoption of the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement.

A related issue remains unresolved: the agreement cannot open for signature until members complete an annex on pathogen access and benefit-sharing, a process still stalled in negotiations between developing countries and some high-income states, including the US. More broadly, the WHO has also launched a five-year strategy for its pandemic and epidemic intelligence hub, aimed at helping countries detect outbreaks more quickly.