Countries were finally able to agree on a finalized text of the pandemic treaty after more than three years of negotiations.
The text, which member states said is far from perfect, was the product of years of resilience and compromise. Negotiations on the pandemic agreement started in 2022 and were supposed to conclude in 2024. However, unresolved disagreements over critical issues — including technology transfer, access to pathogen data, and benefit-sharing — pushed negotiations into a fourth year.
On Saturday, member states finally reached a breakthrough in the negotiations, with most of the text agreed on. But they still had to finalize some text on technology transfer, and so resumed negotiations on Tuesday, which extended to the wee hours of Wednesday. Some high-income countries, including members of the European Union, wanted to ensure language on tech transfer remained voluntary.
About the author
Jenny Lei Ravelo@JennyLeiRavelo
Jenny Lei Ravelo is a Devex Senior Reporter based in Manila. She covers global health, with a particular focus on the World Health Organization, and other development and humanitarian aid trends in Asia Pacific. Prior to Devex, she wrote for ABS-CBN, one of the largest broadcasting networks in the Philippines, and was a copy editor for various international scientific journals. She received her journalism degree from the University of Santo Tomas.
