WHO Executive Board Adopted New Efficiency Measures; Can They Stick? 

After fits, starts, hours of back room negotiations and hesitations, the closing day of WHO’s Executive Board session Friday saw agreement on a number of small – but potentially meaningful – efficiency measures aimed at saving booth member states and the financially-strapped agency a time and money in preparing for and responding to member state mandates.  

The changes come amidst mounting geopolitical and social tensions amongst member states, with an increasing share of discussion time consumed by a handful of highly politicized items, including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as sexual and reproductive health rights. 

At the same time, the Executive Board and the annual World Health Assembly (WHA) have become overloaded with a growing volume of draft decisions and resolutions—many costly to implement and not always aligned with established strategic plans.

Among the key reforms is an initiative to streamline timelines and criteria for member state submissions of proposed draft resolutions and decisions, a move that could curb the proliferation of proposals seen over the past several years.

Streamlining discussion on Palestine and de-escalating reproductive health flashpoints

news/who-executive-board-adopted-new-efficiency-measures-can-they-stick/tedros-friday-unsafe-abortion/” data-orig-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tedros-Friday-unsafe-abortion-.png?fit=882%2C485&ssl=1″ data-orig-size=”882,485″ data-comments-opened=”0″ data-image-meta=”{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}” data-image-title=”Tedros Friday unsafe abortion” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”<p>WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Friday evening in emotional appeals for streamlining debates around divisive issues such as reproductive health rights and Palestine. </p> ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tedros-Friday-unsafe-abortion-.png?fit=300%2C165&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tedros-Friday-unsafe-abortion-.png?fit=640%2C352&ssl=1″ class=”size-full wp-image-131802″ alt=”” width=”882″ height=”485″ srcset=”https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tedros-Friday-unsafe-abortion-.png 882w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tedros-Friday-unsafe-abortion–300×165.png 300w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Tedros-Friday-unsafe-abortion–768×422.png 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 882px) 100vw, 882px”/>

Other small efficiency steps for the upcoming WHA include a compromise on language approving WHO’s continued engagement with five NGOs working on sexual and reproductive health rights, and a plan to consolidate discussion around two overlapping reports around the thorny question of health conditions in the “‘Occupied Palestine Territory’’ into a single WHA agenda item—avoiding duplications that have consumed hours of WHA time since 2024. That’s when the Israel-Hamas war led to the development of a second WHO report on health conditions in the OPT, in addition to the annual report that has been a perennial feature on the WHA every year since Israel occupied the territories in 1967. 

Addressing the Executive Board on Friday, WHO Director General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus framed the latter consolidation as both an efficiency gain and a confidence-building measure.

“As you know, the UN Security Council welcomed the comprehensive plan to end the Gaza conflict last November through Resolution 2803. This holds this real promise for advancing peace and …in a region with such urgent needs, peace is built one brave step at a time. It’s a commitment we renew every day. Peace endures only when we carry it forward together. Each of us can contribute through our decisions in the EB and the WHA,” Tedros said.

“Today, I propose one concrete step combining the two WHA agenda items… into a single discussion. …By taking this step together, we not only foster a more constructive environment for our governance deliberations, but also contribute, in a small way, to the success of the peace initiative.” 

A more efficient process for advancing new WHA resolutions/decisions  

Administratively, the Board also backed proposals to enforce stricter timelines for submitting draft resolutions and decisions, along with closer WHO Secretariat supervision to ensure alignment with agency priorities and budgets, and manageable meeting agendas.

While current rules hold that zero drafts should be submitted several months before a session—and final drafts no later than 15 days ahead—many proposals have in practice arrived late, leaving little time for review by the WHO Secretariat or member states.

In a draft decision Friday, Board members also agreed to advance a proposed rule change whereby three WHO member states from at least two regions must agree to co-sponsor any new decision or resolution. The innovation aims to curb member state debate on measures with little real backing. 

The provision remains bracketed, however, in the draft text, which also refers to the  “piloting” of the reform measures, signalling the long road that remains to actual approval.  

Opposition to WHO’s engagement with reproductive health NGOs 

news/who-executive-board-adopted-new-efficiency-measures-can-they-stick/norway-friday-evening/” data-orig-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening-.png?fit=1193%2C736&ssl=1″ data-orig-size=”1193,736″ data-comments-opened=”0″ data-image-meta=”{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}” data-image-title=”Norway Friday evening” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”<p>Norway’s delegate led negotiations with the Egyptian-led bloc over the issue of renewing WHO collaborations with five reproductive health NGOs. </p> ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening-.png?fit=300%2C185&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening-.png?fit=640%2C395&ssl=1″ class=”wp-image-131805″ alt=”” width=”1000″ height=”617″ srcset=”https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening-.png 1193w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening–300×185.png 300w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening–1024×632.png 1024w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Norway-Friday-evening–768×474.png 768w” sizes=”(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px”/>

The Executive Board also reached a time-saving agreement on another topic of frequent WHA filibusters – WHO engagements with non-state actors that work on sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR). 

Egypt, where abortion is illegal unless a woman’s life is at risk, and even subject to a jail sentence,  has long been a leader in opposing WHO’s engagements with NGOs working in this space. 

This year, that included opposition to WHO collaborations with five groups whose terms of engagement with WHO are due to be renewed this year, as part of a routine, triannual review process.

The groups include: International Planned Parenthood Federation; the American Society for Reproductive Medicine; Family Health International; the Population Council and the World Association for Sexual Health. 

Speaking for the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)—which includes states from WHO’s Eastern Mediterranean Region as well as countries in North Africa and Asia—Egypt’s delegate declared that continued engagement with the five NGOs is “contrary” to WHO’s Framework of Engagement with Non-State Actors (FENSA), which aims to ensure the agency’s “integrity, independence and credibility is not compromised” and that non-state actors do not wield undue “influence” in setting “policies, norms and standards.”

Norway, leading EU and other supportive member states, spent several hours negotiating an addendum that effectively renews collaboration while taking “note” of reservations and affirms that “member states have full sovereign rights over which non-state actors operate within their national territories,” in line with their “national context and legislation.”

news/who-executive-board-adopted-new-efficiency-measures-can-they-stick/final-agreed-text-on-non-state-actors/” data-orig-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176.png?fit=1859%2C672&ssl=1″ data-orig-size=”1859,672″ data-comments-opened=”0″ data-image-meta=”{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}” data-image-title=”Final Agreed Text on Non State Actors” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”<p>Wordsmithing of EB decision text on WHO’s collaboration’s with non-state actors de-escalated potential controversy over the issue at the upcoming World Health Assembly. </p> ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176.png?fit=300%2C108&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176.png?fit=640%2C231&ssl=1″ class=”wp-image-131800″ alt=”” width=”1000″ height=”361″ srcset=”https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176.png 1859w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176-300×108.png 300w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176-1024×370.png 1024w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176-768×278.png 768w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Final-Agreed-Text-on-Non-State-Actors–e1770588774176-1536×555.png 1536w” sizes=”auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px”/>

Here too, Tedros added his own support, recalling how parliamentary reforms liberalizing Ethiopia’s abortion laws during his tenure as health minister helped cut maternal mortality five-fold, as many deaths were linked to unsafe abortions.

“I myself invited not only WHO, but other international organizations for help, and it’s during that time, our Parliament passed a bill on how to handle unsafe abortion, because nobody wanted for our mothers to die, our sisters to die,” Tedros said.  

“We don’t allow our norms and standards to be influenced by anyone. We take sides with science,” Tedros affirmed. “Any country has sovereignty, either to invite us or not invite us [to support them]. But whatever relationship we have, it will not be forced on any country.” 

The EB negotiations and word smithing, while tortuous and time-consuming, may help avert an even larger debate at the WHA.

Temporary fixes? 

news/who-executive-board-adopted-new-efficiency-measures-can-they-stick/palestine-ryad-eb-158-friday/” data-orig-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday-.png?fit=1248%2C740&ssl=1″ data-orig-size=”1248,740″ data-comments-opened=”0″ data-image-meta=”{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}” data-image-title=”Palestine Ryad EB 158 Friday” data-image-description=”” data-image-caption=”<p>Palestinian EB representative Ryad Awaja – a consolidated discussion is an exceptional move. </p> ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday-.png?fit=300%2C178&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday-.png?fit=640%2C379&ssl=1″ class=”wp-image-131810″ alt=”” width=”1000″ height=”593″ srcset=”https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday-.png 1248w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday–300×178.png 300w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday–1024×607.png 1024w, https://healthpolicy-watch.news/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Palestine-Ryad-EB-158-Friday–768×455.png 768w” sizes=”auto, (max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px”/>

Despite the budget pressure that helped push member states toward incremental reforms, most changes remain tentative—preliminary or applicable only to the upcoming WHA.

Agreeing to combine discussions on the two overlapping WHO reports on “health conditions in the Occupied Palestine Territory (OPT)” into one dedicated discussion on the WHA agenda, Palestine’s EB representative Ryad Awaja stressed that the arrangement was temporary. 

He attributed it to logistical constraints facing this year’s WHA, with some meetings shifting to WHO headquarters during renovations at Geneva’s UN Offices in the Palais des Nations.

“To know this is exceptional,” Awaja said of the consolidated discussion. “It’s not …forever. It’s just an exception from Palestine to help for this time.”