Members of FIGO’s Board of Trustees and Executive Team attended WHO’s virtual 150^th Executive Board in early 2022 to feed into discussions and provide the global voice for women’s health. FIGO submitted the following verbal statement on being a non-state actor involved with WHO.

FIGO’s statement

The International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics welcomes WHO’s efforts to increase meaningful collaboration and engagement with NSAs.

Each NSA in official relations with WHO offers specialist and dedicated global expertise within its field. FIGO represents more than 130 national OBGYN professional societies. No other NSA can better represent the fields of obstetrics, gynaecology and women’s health and wellbeing at a global level.

We recognise the challenges that dense programmes of work can pose. However, we urge Member States and the WHO Secretariat to ensure there are sufficient opportunities for NSAs to submit individual interventions at their discretion.

Should constituency statements be retained, WHO must implement an effective, accessible and transparent mechanism to facilitate connections between NSAs, so that all relevant expertise can be captured on the official record.

Read more about FIGO at the Executive Board and other statements made.