EBSS NSAs English

20, AVENUE APPIA – CH-1211 GENEVA 27 – SWITZERLAND – TEL CENTRAL +41 22 791 2111 – FAX CENTRAL +41 22 791 3111 – WWW.WHO.INT
The Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) has the honour to invite
the non-State actors in official relations with WHO, in accordance with privileges conferred on
them, to appoint representatives to attend the Special Session of the Executive Board on a draft
thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13) which will be convened on Wednesday,
22 November 2017, at 09:30, at the Organization’s headquarters, Geneva, Switzerland. The
session will close no later than Thursday, 23 November 2017.
In line with ongoing efforts to streamline the registration process, online registration is
now required for the Executive Board. Registration can be initiated as of 23 October 2017 by
going to the following link: http://extranet.who.int/bpmext/meetingregistration.aspx, using the
following username: ebuser, and password: Hamiki28.
Instructions for online registration are available for downloading from the Governance
website (http://apps.who.int/gb/gov/registration.html).
… A copy of the provisional agenda for this session and a copy of “Practical information for
delegates of non-State actors in official relations with the World Health Organization” are also
enclosed.
The documents for the Special Session of the Executive Board will be posted on the
Internet through the WHO website (http://www.who.int/gb/), as they become available, with the
draft GPW13 being available in early November 2017.
GENEVA, 19 October 2017
… ENCLS: (2) EBSS/17.4
Practical information for delegates of non-State actors
in official relations with the World Health Organization (WHO),
attending the Special Session of the Executive Board on GPW13
The Special Session of the WHO Executive Board will meet at WHO headquarters, Geneva, from
Wednesday, 22 November 2017, and should close no later than Thursday, 23 November 2017. The
information below is intended to facilitate your participation at the Board.
Registration and collection of official EB badges
Registration
1. Online registration is required for the Executive Board. To that end, the invitation letter to the
Executive Board provides a link to the WHO Governing Bodies Meeting Registration System, as well as a
username and password that will give access to the system. Each non-State actor must designate a focal point
to be responsible for registering the non-State actor’s delegation in the system, and giving their delegates
copies of the invitation and enclosures as well as the non-State actor’s letter of credentials.
2. Online registration requires each non-State actor to upload a copy of its credentials, that is, a signed
response to the invitation on the non-State actor’s letterhead indicating the name(s) of the delegates. In
accordance with the submitted delegate information, official EB badges will be prepared in advance. The
deadline for registration is 8 November 2017.
3. Instructions for the online registration system are available on the Governance website
at http://www.who.int/governance/registration/en/index.html. Queries concerning the system can be
addressed by email to supportregistration@who.int, or by telephone +41 22 791 21 11.
4. As of January 2015, for security reasons, all delegates will be required to wear photo ID badges in
order to access the meeting room. For this reason, during the online registration process, the Focal Point will
be asked to upload a passport style photograph of each member of the delegation.
5. Guidance on the nature of the image required, and brief instructions on how to upload and resize an
existing image you may have, are both available on WHO website: http://apps.who.int/gb/gov/registration.html.
6. An example of credentials is attached for ease of reference.
Collection of badges
7. Upon arrival at WHO headquarters, delegates should show the credentials letter and proof of identity,
for example, passport, to WHO Security. Once verified, delegates may then proceed to the Reception desk
which is scheduled to be open from Monday, 20 November 2017, to Thursday, 23 November 2017 at
WHO headquarters.
8. At the Reception desk, upon presentation of proof of identity, delegates will receive an official WHO
EB badge.
GBS/NSA/EBSS/17.4
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Visa requirements
9. Delegates requiring a visa to enter Switzerland may request a letter from WHO confirming their
participation. Such requests should be sent at least one month before the first day of the Executive Board and
addressed to the Department of Partnerships, and non-State actors, nonstateactors@who.int, and provide the
following information:
Name on Passport:
Title:
Nationality:
Birth date:
Passport no:
Place of issue:
Issue date:
Expiry date:
Executive Board documents
10. As they become available, documents for the Executive Board are posted on the WHO website
at http://www.who.int/gb/. They are available in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish, the
official languages of WHO. Please note that hard copies are not mailed to non-State actor representatives.
11. During the Executive Board, a document distribution service is provided. The documents are prepared
in packets on a daily basis in the above-mentioned official languages. If you do not want all the documents in
the language of your choice, please consult the meeting agenda which gives the document numbers for each
item; a copy of the document(s) may thus be requested by number and preferred language.
Seating arrangements
12. Seating for non-State actors is reserved in a gallery located above to the left side of the EB room.
Non-State actors statements at the Board
13. Non-State actors in official relations with WHO may request to speak under a technical item in which
the non-State actor has a particular expertise. The following process applies to such requests:
• Request should be addressed to the chairperson of the Executive Board and refer to the agenda item
number and title under which the statement is to be made. It should include the name of the non-
State actor, the name of the registered representative who will deliver the statement, and contact
information.
• Requests to speak should be submitted by 08:00 of the day of the meeting in question to the
Department of Partnerships and non-State actors (PNA) by email (nsastatements@who.int). While
every attempt is made to keep non-State actors informed of the status of their requests, it is the
responsibility of the non-State actor to verify with PNA that the request has been received and
accepted. PNA will inform the Chairperson of the meeting of the non-State actor wishing to make a
statement. The statements will be made at the invitation of the Chairperson.
• Non-State actors are invited to post their statements on a dedicated website in advance of the
debates. For that purpose, please go to http://apps.who.int/nsastatements/ and register your entity.
The following information will be requested: name, title, email address, the name of the entity and
the meeting at which the statement is intended to be made. Once the form has been submitted, a
confirmation of the approval will be sent to the email address provided, after which it is possible to
log on and submit a statement for posting. The website will be available for posting as of
1 November 2017.
GBS/NSA/EBSS/17.4
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• Statements should contain substantive comments directly relevant to the agenda item and the
document prepared for the item. Kindly check the statement for accuracy of the technical
components. Statements should be limited to 300 words which should not take longer than
two minutes to deliver. A footnote with a link to the non-State actor website for further information
is allowed.
• Statements should not raise issues of purely political nature that are unrelated to the topic, and
should not contain any inappropriate or offensive reference to Member States. The nomenclature
used to refer to Member States, or areas of Member States, must follow that of the United Nations.
The titles of individuals, organizations and/or specific doctrines are expected to be correct and there
should be no obvious spelling/grammatical errors. In case of doubt, please
consult nsastatements@who.int.
• Statements longer than 300 words or those that do not follow the process described in this note will
not be allowed to be posted on the website or can be withdrawn at the WHO’s Secretariat’s sole
discretion.
• If you have not posted the statement on the dedicated website, kindly send a copy of it
to nsastatements@who.int before making the statement, for it to appear in the summary record of
the Executive Board.
Speaking before the Board
14. Statements are delivered from the “Speakers” seat in the EB room. Please consult the seating plan,
placed on the wall at the entrance to the room, to see where it is located.
15. It is important that speakers follow the debate on the item which they wish to address and, shortly before
the Member States have finished speaking on the item, they should leave the non-State actors gallery and move
to the allocated “Speakers” seat in the EB room. If the “Speakers” seat is occupied, please ask the huissier to
help find seating. The Chairperson will invite the speaker to take the floor. After the statement, please move
from the seat promptly to enable the following speaker to take his/her place. It is the responsibility of the
speaker to ensure their presence in the meeting room for the item.
16. Should it not be possible for the speaker to be present, he or she may arrange for someone else to deliver
the statement. The name of the new speaker should be notified to nonstateactors@who.int. Please ensure that
the person nominated is on the list of delegates for the same non-State actor as the original speaker and has
registered and collected their badge. Please note that in those cases where a non-State actor has not been able to
nominate another person to make the statement, it is not possible for the statement to be otherwise presented to
the Executive Board or appear in written form in the record of the Executive Board. The statement will,
however, be left on the dedicated website for a limited period of time.
Department for Partnerships and Non-State Actors (PNA)
17. PNA serves as the focal point for assisting non-State actors during the Executive Board. For enquiries
please contact PNA Secretariat at nsastatements@who.int, telephone: +41 22 791 29 80.
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GBS/NSA/EBSS/17.4