Rethinking or Resetting: The Path to Global Health Governance Reform – The State of Play

Who governs global health today, and who will govern it in the years ahead? Which institution decides, which one pays, and which one answers when delivery fails? 

These questions are being settled now, in parallel. The Joint process to support reforms of the global health architecture, UN80 and several financing processes are each redrawing mandates, budgets and lines of responsibility, each on its own timeline and in its own forum. This is happening as development assistance contracts and institutions restructure, while the UN and WHO prepare for new leadership and the reform mandate moves toward the World Health Assembly in May 2027. 

This dialogue brings these processes into one conversation. Member States, institutional leaders and practitioners engaged in them will share where each one stands, where they converge and diverge, which decisions lie ahead, and how roles across functions, coordination and financing are likely to be distributed. Because institutional change is not the same as reform, the discussion will also consider what evidence would show that change is reaching the way functions are delivered, decisions are coordinated and financing is aligned, rather than remaining at the level of mandates and organigrams.