Regional Director Saima Wazed opened the day-long Seventeenth Meeting of the Subcommittee on Policy and Programme Development and Management (SPPDM) today. The meeting is being attended by representatives of Member States of WHO South-East Asia Region.
Regional Director's address:
Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Colleagues and Friends,
Good morning and welcome to this 17th Meeting of the Sub-committee on Policy and Programme Development and Management (SPPDM).
I am pleased to see that many of the participants of the just-concluded High-Level Preparatory Meeting are in attendance of this meeting as well. The continuity is welcome, especially in view of your role in the development, coordination and implementation of WHO programmes at the country level.
Today, we will present the SPPDM Agenda 2, which is Agenda 7 of upcoming 77th Session of the WHO Regional Committee for South-East Asia, titled, “Programme Budget matters.” This includes:
- the performance assessment of the Programme Budget for the 2022–2023 biennium
- implementation of the Programme Budget for the current 2024–2025 biennium
- the proposed Programme Budget for the upcoming 2026–2027 biennium, and the Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14), and
- Sustainable Financing covering the WHO Investment Round
When discussing implementation of WHO’s Country Programme Budget, I urge you to give special attention to how we can accelerate the rate and quality of implementation without compromising results. Together, we must ensure that our scarce budgetary resources are optimally utilized for greater impact.
In our Region, I am pleased to announce that we will continue to focus on country needs, which have regularly been updated in keeping with progress achieved.
I would like to draw your attention to the Agenda which has been provided to you.
Sub-agenda 2.1 covers the performance assessment of Programme Budget in the last biennium, as well as the implementation status of Programme Budget for the current 2024–2025 biennium.
The Programme Budget 2022–2023 was the second Programme Budget developed under GPW13 and was a vital element in ensuring the implementation of the WHO “Triple Billion” Strategy. The vision of GPW13 – “Impact for people at the country level” – was also the overarching objective of the Programme Budget 2022–2023. Major extracts relevant to our Region from the WHO Results Report on Programme Budget 2022–2023, and the progress of the SE Asia Region Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), are summarized and presented in the Working Paper.
The Programme Budget 2024–2025 is the third and final Programme Budget developed under GPW13 and aims to deliver impact for people at the country level. Recognizing the urgent need for countries to speed up their pandemic recovery processes and build resilient health systems that protect against future health challenges, this Programme Budget reflected a new approach to the pandemic response, together with a greater country focus than ever before.
The approved Programme Budget 2024–2025 for the WHO South-East Asia Region amounted to US$ 537.9 million, comprising US$ 487.3 million for the Base segment, US$ 46 million for the Emergency Operations and Appeals segment, and US$ 4.6 million for Special Programmes.
I’d now like to update Member States on the implementation status of the Programme Budget, as of 31 July 2024. The regional approved Programme Budget stands funded at 53%. Implementation is 21% against the approved Budget, and 40% against total distributed resources. The respective percentages for utilization (including encumbrances) are 30% and 57% respectively.
The South-East Asia Regional Office will continue to engage with Member States towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, with efforts to fully fund the Programme Budget 2024–2025.
The next sub-Agenda 2.2 is forward-looking, comprising of the Fourteenth General Programme of Work (GPW14) from 2025–2028, and the Proposed Programme Budget 2026–2027.
The 76th World Health Assembly requested the Director-General to draft the Fourteenth General Programme of Work, to be effective from 2025. It was to include a financing envelope and articulate a strong results narrative in achieving country-level impact, drawing on lessons learnt from GPW 13.
After extensive consultations with Member States, including discussions at the Regional Committees, PBAC and EB sessions early this year, the 77th World Health Assembly approved GPW14 by resolution WHA77.1. Member States were urged to support work towards the achievement of its strategic objectives and joint outcomes, and to facilitate its implementation by actively participating in the WHO Investment Round in late-2024.
GPW14 is to replace GPW13 one year early, in 2025. The GPW14 document comprises four parts outlining several policy-related considerations. The full, sustainable, and predictable financing of WHO’s budget for 2025–2028 will be essential to realizing the strategic objectives, overarching goal and impact of the GPW14.
Based on the approved GPW14, country level consultations on joint outcome prioritization have been conducted to develop the Draft Programme Budget 2026–2027. This is the first one to be fully developed based on GPW14.
The development of the PB 2026–2027 has continued the approach of priority-setting as an integral part of its development process. WHO Country Offices have spoken to Member States to identify the support needed to together achieve results for the period of GPW14, and to determine the concrete actions expected from the Secretariat to achieve those results. An iterative approach has been applied that starts at the country office level to ensure maximum alignment with country situations and priorities.
As in previous Programme Budgets, the proposed Programme Budget 2026–2027 is presented in four segments:
- Base Programmes
- Polio eradication
- Special Programmes, and
- Emergency Operations and Appeals
At the global level, the Secretariat is putting forward two scenarios for this segment in the proposed Programme Budget 2026–2027 for Member States’ consideration and decision.
Also, the Programme Budget 2026–2027 will use the new GPW14 results framework to track and assess results, using 42 outputs and 19 outcomes. It clearly articulates which specific results will be measured, and what measurement criteria will be used. The Proposed Programme Budget 2026–2027 is being developed under the key assumption that the second gradual increase of 20% in the assessed contributions will be approved.
This SPPDM Meeting and the Regional Committee represent the perfect forums for Member States and the Secretariat to start discussions on the increase in assessed contributions by 20% to fund the Proposed Programme Budget 2026–2027.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The four-year budget pocket of the GPW14 (2025–2028) is estimated at 11.132 billion and currently has a US$ 7.1 billion shortfall. With the Investment Round, which is the last sub-item under the Agenda, WHO is seeking to raise new funding. We would like to expand our donor base for the component of the Base Budget that is not covered by assessed contributions and must be financed through voluntary contributions. The Organization hopes that the shortfall will be met by Investment Round pledges from Member States, philanthropic organizations, and the private sector.
The Investment Round was officially launched during the 77th World Health Assembly, in an event with Member States, other contributors, and partners, in May 2024. It earned many expressions of support, commitments from countries to co-host, and initial pledges and contributions close to US$ 300 million from partners.
There will be a series of events with opportunities for pledging that will take place in the lead up to the Global Pledging Event in November this year. Several Regional Committees including the SE Asia Regional Committee have included Investment Round as a substantive agenda. In addition, the African Region, Eastern Mediterranean Region, and our region will be holding dedicated side-events in support of the Investment Round.
WHO will leverage other high-level events including the upcoming UN General Assembly, World Health Summit, G20 Health Working Group and Health and Finance Ministers’ Meeting to generate support for the Investment Round.
The Secretariat is ensuring coordination across the three levels of the Organization in its engagement with Member States and non-State actors. It is working to ensure that as many Member States as possible support and contribute to the Investment Round.
The Investment Round is an occasion for our Member States to showcase their local, regional, and global contributions to public health. Specifically, they have the opportunity to highlight all contributions – political, human, institutional, financial, and otherwise – that they have made over the past years, as well as those they intend to make for the future.
Excellencies and Delegates,
I look forward to the continued support of our Member States for the common vision of a healthier South-East Asia. As you know, our Regional Roadmap lays out the priorities we have agreed on for the next 5 years.
We are going to focus on:
- A more holistic approach to integrate and strengthen mental health and wellbeing
- A more equitable approach towards empowerment of women, girls and vulnerable population
- A more innovative approach through capitalizing technology, policy and social innovations, and
- A more sustainable approach through strengthened capacity of health system and effective expertise sharing.
The Secretariat will make detailed presentations on all Agenda items, and for any further updates, I encourage you to refer to the uploaded Working Papers.
I would like to again state the Secretariat’s ongoing support and its willingness to provide any assistance you may require during the course of this meeting. You are welcome to seek any clarification or request additional information on any of the agenda items. We will be pleased to assist you.
I wish you a successful SPPDM meeting and look forward to your active participation.
Thank you.