Scope, Modalities, Format and Organization of the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage

A/DEC/72/560View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Decision of the General Assembly, under agenda item 127 Global health and foreign policy, published in 2018.

What subjects does this mandate have?

5 subjects

Conferences Health Policy Health Services Public Health Universal Health Coverage

What’s in this document?

21 operative paragraphs

At its 110th plenary meeting, on 6 August 2018, the General Assembly, on the proposal of its President,36 decided to transmit the following draft resolution to the Assembly for action at its seventy-third session:

Scope, modalities, format and organization of the high-level meeting on universal health coverage

Decides that the one-day high-level meeting on universal health coverage to be convened by the President of the General Assembly shall be held in New York on the third day of the general debate of the Assembly at its seventy-fourth session, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m., and consist of an opening segment, a plenary segment for general discussion, two multi-stakeholder panels and a brief closing segment;

Also decides that the overall theme of the high-level meeting will be “Universal health coverage: moving together to build a healthier world”;

Further decides that:

The opening segment, to be held from 10 to 10.30 a.m., will feature statements by the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-fourth session, the Secretary-General, the Director General of the World Health Organization, the President of the World Bank Group, as well as an eminent high-level champion of universal health coverage, selected, in consultation with Member States, by the President of the Assembly, giving due consideration to gender equity;

The plenary segment, to be held from 10.30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 3 to 5.30 p.m., will comprise statements by Member States and observers of the General Assembly; a list of speakers will be established in accordance with established practices of the Assembly, and the time limits for these statements will be three minutes for individual delegations and five minutes for statements made on behalf of a group of States;

The closing segment, to be held from 5.30 to 6 p.m., will comprise summaries of the multi-stakeholder panels and concluding remarks by the President of the General Assembly;

Decides that the organizational arrangements for the two multi- stakeholder panels will be as follows:

Two multi-stakeholder panels will be held in parallel to the plenary segment, one from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the other from 3 to 5 p.m.;

Each of the two multi-stakeholder panels will be co-chaired by two representatives, one from a developed country and one from a developing country, to be appointed by the President of the General Assembly from among the Heads of State or Government attending the high-level meeting, in consultation with Member States, taking into account gender equity, level of development and geographical representation;

The themes of the multi-stakeholder panels will take into consideration the direction and outcomes of other preceding health processes and initiatives, as well as the interactive multi-stakeholder hearing, with a view to ensuring the most effective and efficient outcomes and potential deliverables and to sharing experiences and lessons learned to address remaining implementation gaps;

The President of the General Assembly may invite parliamentarians, local governments, the heads or senior representatives of relevant United Nations entities, including the World Bank, development partners, civil society, the private sector, academia, medical associations, indigenous leadership and community organizations to serve as speakers on the panels, taking into account gender equity, level of development and geographical representation;

Also decides that the high-level meeting shall approve a concise and action-oriented political declaration, agreed in advance by consensus through intergovernmental negotiations, to be submitted by the President of the General Assembly for adoption by the Assembly;

Requests the President of the General Assembly, with the support of the World Health Organization and other relevant partners, to organize and preside over an interactive multi-stakeholder hearing, before the end of July 2019, with the active participation of appropriate senior-level representatives of Member States, observers of the General Assembly, parliamentarians, representatives of local government, relevant United Nations entities, non-

governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council, invited civil society organizations, philanthropic foundations, academia, medical associations, the private sector and broader communities, ensuring the participation and voices of women, children, youth and indigenous leadership, as part of the preparatory process for the high-level meeting, and also requests the President to prepare a summary of the hearing prior to the high-level meeting;

Encourages all Member States to participate in the high-level meeting, including the multi-stakeholder panels, at the highest possible level, preferably at the level of Heads of State and Government, and invites all observers of the General Assembly to be represented at the highest possible level;

Invites the United Nations system, including funds, programmes and specialized agencies, including the World Health Organization, regional commissions and relevant envoys of the Secretary-General, to participate in the high-level meeting, as appropriate, and urges them to consider relevant initiatives, such as the International Health Partnership for UHC2030, in support of the preparatory process and the meeting, particularly with regard to sharing evidence and good practices, challenges and lessons learned;

Invites the Inter-Parliamentary Union to contribute to the high-level meeting;

Invites non-governmental organizations with relevant expertise that are in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council to register with the Secretariat to attend the meeting and the interactive multistakeholder hearing;

Requests the President of the General Assembly to draw up a list of other relevant representatives of relevant non-governmental organizations, civil society organizations, academic institutions and the private sector who may attend the high-level meeting and participate in the interactive multi-stakeholder hearing and the multistakeholder panels, taking into account the principles of transparency and equitable geographical representation, with due regard to the meaningful participation of women, and to submit the list to Member States for their consideration on a non-objection basis;38

Invites members of civil society, non-governmental organizations, the private sector, academia, development partners and other relevant initiatives to make a fundamental contribution to the process in terms of raising awareness of the importance of universal health coverage and its contribution towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals;37

Encourages Member States to consider including in their national delegations ministers from all relevant ministries, as appropriate, as well as representatives such as parliamentarians, mayors and governors, representatives of civil society, including non-governmental organizations, indigenous leadership, community organizations and faith-based organizations, academia, philanthropic foundations, the private sector and universal health coverage networks, with due regard to gender equity;

Requests the President of the General Assembly at its seventy-third session to finalize the organizational arrangements for the high-level meeting, in close consultation with Member States, including the themes of the multistakeholder panels in line with paragraph 4 (c) of the present resolution.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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