Distinguished guests, dear colleagues and friends,
Good afternoon, and thank you all for making this first global forum of WHO Collaborating Centres such a success.
Thank you for your commitment, thank you for joining us, and thank you for sharing your experience, feedback and ideas with us over the past three days.
We have listened to you. We have learned what works best, and what challenges you face.
I hope this event served its purpose of giving you opportunities to discuss the best way forward with both WHO and your fellow collaborating centres.
We have heard your whole-hearted support for WHO, and your sense of being part of the WHO family, as Dr Didier Jordan said.
But you are concerned about inequities in representation. Most collaborating centres are in high-income countries, while low- and middle-income countries, home to most of the world’s population and bearing the greatest burden of disease, remain underrepresented.
Expanding collaborating centres in these countries will be a priority.
You suggested twinning between centres with different capacities, and networking across centre and areas of work.
You also asked to reduce the administrative burden, to move beyond a system focused on annual reporting, to build more organic, continuous and equal partnerships with WHO.
We have also heard that there are missed opportunities, and that collaborating centres want to be more engaged in supporting the 14th General Programme of Work and helping to shape the next global programme of work.
You would like to be co-creating the future priorities with us.
But to do this, the communication needs to be two-way, flexibilities need to be introduced, and real and equal partnerships developed.
You appreciated the poster session as this allowed you to understand the breadth of work that collaborating centres do and the potential for cross-cutting work to extend the reach of your impact through networking.
The future of our WHO collaborating centre family will need to move beyond biomedical and technological solutions to address a more complex scientific and public health world – where the focus will need to be on social cohesion, trust, and solidarity.
You would also like us to engage youth more actively in the next generation of collaborating centre leaders.
This is how we will move from talking about evidence and science to implementing policies and programmes that deliver impact.
You asked that we listen more often and more closely to the needs of collaborating centres – as they need recognition in their countries, regions and institutions to continue this in-kind support to WHO.
Simple gestures of writing letters of support to your academic leadership will ensure our most trusted partners can succeed in their careers.
And when you apply for grants, WHO would also be happy to write letters of support.
During your foresight session, you prioritized clear communication, sharing resources, joint planning and joint fund raising.
One of the most powerful outcomes of this Forum is the networking that has occurred among you all and the energy you will bring to the most pressing future public health challenges.
During the forum, we discussed how WHO and the collaborating centres can help to shape a new global health architecture in which each actor plays its role and leverages its comparative advantage, avoiding overlaps and duplication, and delivering value for money and results where it matters most – in the countries and people we serve.
Your institutions will play a key role in the joint process of reforming the global health architecture.
Accordingly, I have encouraged my colleagues in Geneva and the regional offices to take a more strategic approach to engaging with collaborating centres, with clear shared goals, milestones and deliverables.
We also plan to expand these collaborations to include institutions from Member States that have no collaborating centres – helping to address the stark geographic inequities we currently have.
New networks of collaborating centres will be formed, to bring together and combine the best that your institutions have to offer.
Some new collaborating centres may be designated to further support key priority areas.
But one thing is clear: in the years to come WHO will rely on its collaborating centres more than ever before.
Before I close, let me leave you with three concrete recommendations, commitments that will turn our words into action.
First, WHO is committed to establishing a Joint Committee composed of collaborating centres and the WHO Secretariat to ensure that our governance is shared, our planning is co-created, and our voices are equal.
Second, between now and April 2027, we will hold two virtual meetings with all collaborating centres. These will be spaces for connection, consultation, and collective problem-solving, no matter where you are in the world.
Third, and I hope you will mark your calendars today, we will gather in person from the 7th to 9th of April 2027, in Geneva, to take stock of our progress, to renew our commitments, and to prove that this family is not just talking, but walking the path of equity together.
Because, as Dr Didier Jordan said, you are part of the WHO family, and you are essential for delivering WHO’s mission and mandate:
Not health for some; not health for most; but health for all.
Once again, my sincere thanks to all of you for your support and leadership.
I wish you all safe travels home, and I look forward to seeing you next year in Geneva.
Thank you very much.