ReAct reports from the first AMR Multi-stakeholder Partnership Platform Plenary Assembly
Share the article
2023-12-18
The very first Plenary Assembly of the recently created Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform (MSPP) on AMR was held in Rome, Italy, on the 15-16th of November 2023. The platform is a voluntary collaborative coordination mechanism to catalyze a global movement for action against AMR.
ReAct’s Julian Nyamupachitu and Kerstin Åkerfeldt at the first AMR Multi-stakeholder Partnership Platform Plenary Assembly in Rome, Italy. Photo: Private
The two-day meeting gathered participants from all over the world representing platform member organizations including governments, civil society, research and academia, the private sector, financial institutions as well as intergovernmental organizations to discuss the role and planned actions of the platform as well as opportunities for stakeholder engagement ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on AMR 2024.
As a member of the platform, ReAct attended with its official representative Julian Nyamupachitu and alternate Kerstin Åkerfeldt, and welcomed the opportunity to discuss the role of the platform and the timely exchanges on HLM 2024 with other civil society members and other stakeholders present at the meeting.
The platform members meet in person for the first time
This Plenary Assembly of the platform, held at the headquarters of FAO in Rome, was the first in-person meeting of the platform since it was officially launched in November 2022 by the Quadripartite, encompassing the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the UN Environment Program (UNEP), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH).
The meeting started with opening remarks from the leaders of the Quadripartite organizations. They made statements of support of the aim of the Platform to catalyze a global movement for action on AMR by fostering cooperation between a diverse range of stakeholders.
These statements were followed by panel and plenary discussion on the Platform’s governance structures.The members met in break-out group discussions to deliberate on respective priorities of each of the Platform stakeholder constituencies, so called “clusters”.
Members of the platform presented previously submitted proposals for Action Groups, where the “core work” of the Platform is intended to take place. These action groups have subsequently been approved by the Platform’s Steering Committee.
A focus on the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR 2024
Julian Nyamupachitu, ReAct Africa as panelists. Representing the Civil Society cluster in a discussion on the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR next year. Photo: Kerstin Åkerfeldt, ReAct Europe.
On the second and final day of the meeting a panel discussion was held on stakeholder’s views on preparations needed ahead of the UN High-Level Meeting on AMR, taking place in 2024.
Julian Nyamupachitu was one of the panelists, representing the Civil Society cluster, and as part of the jointly crafted statement, she raised the importance of leveraging the voices of civil society and communities, as well as their diverse roles and expertise in advocacy and awareness raising, community engagement, research and innovation, monitoring and evaluation as well as policy recommendations. She said:
Julian Nyamupachitu, ReAct Africa.
“Together, we have the capacity to inspire others and let our collective statements at the UNGA High-Level Meeting 2024 be a powerful statement, one that cannot be ignored, one that clearly shows the urgency to act and most importantly the consequences of not acting.”
Julian Nyamupachitu, ReAct Africa
Recurrent themes in the discussions during the two days:
The opportunities presented by the forthcoming UN High-Level Meeting
The value of bringing together stakeholders from the One Health spectrum
The need for securing adequate financing for the realization of global and National Action Plans on AMR
Next steps in building the Platform
In the coming weeks and months the Action Groups will begin their work and the Platform will continue to evolve alongside it. As stated by the FAO Director-General QU Dongyu:
“the success of the Platform will depend on clear goals, an effective governance structure, visionary leadership, trust, transparency and the sustained engagement of Members to drive change”.
The Platform can provide a valuable venue for exchange and collaboration on important topics. Although alignment and consensus building are the expected outcomes of the Platform’s work, the very broad range of stakeholders of the platform also brings a rich diversity of views and interests that will be important to reflect in the work and output the Platform delivers.
ReAct is looking forward to engaging with the various stakeholders of the Platform and welcomes the invitation by the Quadripartite secretariat for members to take an active part in shaping it to deliver powerful outcomes for antimicrobial resistance.
The Platform was first proposed by the ad-hoc Interagency Coordination Group (IACG), established as a result of the 2016 UN High-level meeting and declaration on AMR. In its 2019 report, the IACG made recommendations in the area of global governance for sustained collective action, including the creation of a Global Leaders Group, and Independent Panel on Evidence as well as a constituency-based multi-stakeholder partnership platform with diverse representation facilitated and managed by the Tripartite agencies (WHO, FAO, OIE) to develop a shared global vision, narrative and targets for the One Health response.
The overarching aim of the Platform to be “an inclusive, international, and multi-stakeholder forum which brings together relevant stakeholders across the human, animal, plant, and environment sectors to assist in preserving antimicrobials as lifesaving medicines for humans, animals, plants and ecosystems and ensuring their responsible use under a One Health approach”.
The Platform is also meant to contribute to the implementation of the Global Action Plan on AMR and National Action Plans on AMR through the following objectives:
Promoting a shared vision for action to tackle AMR:
Engaging stakeholders across the human–animal–plant–environmental interface to build a global vision, narrative and targets for actions to tackle antimicrobial resistance.
Information-sharing and networking:
Providing a venue for information-sharing and collaboration to reach a common understanding and enable coordination of activities between the different sectors.
Support concrete actions that substantially advance progress in containing, combating and, ultimately, reversing AMR:
Drawing on advice and evidence from relevant global governance mechanisms and other academic and scientific institutions to identify and gain support for priority areas for action.
The organizational structure of the AMR Multi-stakeholder Partnership Platform. Source: AMR Multi-stakeholder Partnership Platform website. Click image to enlarge.
