General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance, 21 September 2016 – update

A note has been circulated by Juan José Gómez Camacho, Permanent Representative of Mexico to the United Nations, as the Facilitator on the modalities resolution for the High Level Meeting on Antimicrobial Resistance  (AMR) of the plenary of the UN General Assembly to be held on 21 September. The silence was not broken on the resolution, on which a slight-additional editorial amendment was made at the request of the European Union, with the agreement of all countries.

The High-Level meeting is being held in collaboration with the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) to “summon and maintain strong national, regional and international political commitment in addressing antimicrobial resistance “comprehensively and multisectorally, and to increase and improve awareness of antimicrobial resistance.” The role and responsibility of governments, as well as the role of WHO and other inter-governmental organizations as well as the relevant sectors of society, including “human and veterinary medicine, agriculture, finance, environment and consumers, including towards a one-health approach.” (As stated by the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, the one-health concept recognizes that “the health of humans is connected to the health of animals and the environment.”) The World Health Assembly Resolution WHA 68.7 entitled “Global Action Plan on antimicrobial resistance” reflects a global consensus that ARM poses a significant public health challenge and emphasizes the strategic objectives of the WHA Global Action Plan. 

The high-level meeting will take place on 21 September from 10 am to 1 pm and from 3 pm to 6 pm. Member and observer States are encouraged to participate at the highest level, preferably Head of State or Government.

There will be an opening segment with statements including from the President of the General Assembly, the Secretary General and the Directors-General of WHO, the Food and Agriculture Organization and the World Organization for Animal Health. This will be followed, parallel to the plenary segment, by two interactive hour long thematic panels, including three Heads of State or Government and three relevant stakeholders on:

The relevance of addressing AMR for the achievement of the SDGs, in particular the health related SDGs

Addressing the multisectoral implications and implementation challenges of AMR in a comprehensive manner

At the plenary for general discussions, there will be 3-minute statements from Member and observer States and observers, followed by a closing segment with summaries of the thematic panels and concluding remarks. The arrangements should take into account the views of relevant civil society as well as Member States, the private sector, academia and other stakeholders with expertise in AMR. 

The facilitator for the consultation should also lead “an informal interactive dialogue with relevant AMR civil society as well as AMR private sector” as part of the preliminary process.

Non-governmental organizations in consultative status with ECOSOC and relevant expertise are invited to register to attend with the Secretariat, with Member States being encouraged to include them on their national delegations and a list of representatives of other relevant AMR non-governmental organizations will be drawn up. They will be able to attend the high-level meeting and participate in the interactive panel discussions. Their participation will be on a ‘non-objection basis’, which is the normal procedure for such General Assembly meetings

See: Letter from PGA (19/July/2016)