A Victory for Global Health? Interrogating the Promises of a Future Pandemic Treaty

Overview

On November 14th, 2025, join us at the Canadian Council on International Law Conference panel, “A Victory for Global Health? Interrogating the Promises of a Future Pandemic Treaty.” This panel will be hosted in the John G Diefenbaker Building in Ottawa, ON. The panelists will discuss access and benefit sharing in relation to the WHO Pandemic Agreement’s promise of equity in pandemic preparedness.

 

Hear from Ana Ayala, Founder and Principal of Global Health Law Strategies, Benjamin Mason Meier, Professor of Global Health Policy at University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill), and Chidi Oguamanam, Research Chair in Sustainable Bio-Innovation, Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Global Knowledge Governance, and Common Law Professor at University of Ottawa.

The panel will be moderated by Roojin Habibi, Assistant Professor at University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law.

 

CLICK HERE for event information and registration.

 

Background and Context

In May 2025, the World Health Assembly finally adopted the WHO Pandemic Agreement.

This panel critically examines the Agreement’s promise of equity in pandemic preparedness and response-particularly in relation to technology transfer, access and benefit sharing (ABS), and human rights—and the legal, political, and institutional challenges these provisions face. It also considers implementation of the treaty in light of growing politicization in global health, persistent funding shortfalls, and unresolved negotiations over the pathogen ABS system. Finally, the panel explores how this new treaty will interact with the amended 2024 International Health Regulations and broader global health governance.