Statement by the South Centre on the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
Geneva, 18 May 2026
The South Centre welcomes the one-year extension to finalise the Pathogen Access and Benefit-Sharing (PABS) Annex.
Developing countries showed remarkable unity and put forward concrete proposals. Had these been the basis of work, negotiations could have concluded sooner. Now all Parties must rise to the moment and deliver an Annex that meaningfully advances equity in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Statement by the South Centre to the Forty-eighth Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR 48)
Geneva, 18 May 2026
Limitations and Exceptions (L&Es) must be the priority. The Broadcasting Treaty must not expand beyond its mandate. Copyright in the digital environment must serve Global South creators. Technological Protection Measures (TPMs) studies are premature without development safeguards. See our statement to the Forty-eighth Session of the Standing Committee on Copyright and Related Rights.
Jointly build peace, stability, and development for a new win-win future
Intervention by Dr. Carlos Correa, Executive Director, South Centre at the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum, Cairo, Egypt, May 12-23, 2026
The need to jointly build peace, stability and development for a win-win future is both timeless and urgent. The recent military aggression against countries of the Global South represents a major setback for decades of diplomatic work towards a peaceful coexistence and respect for national sovereignty. See the intervention by Dr. Carlos Correa, Executive Director, South Centre under the theme ‘Jointly build peace, stability, and development for a new win-win future’, at the Global South Media and Think Tank Forum, Cairo, Egypt, May 12-23, 2026.
Statement by the South Centre to the Thirty-sixth Session of the Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP)
Geneva, 4 May 2026
The South Centre just delivered its statement to the 36th Session of WIPO’s Committee on Development and Intellectual Property (CDIP/36) in Geneva. The WIPO Development Agenda turns 20 next year, yet its transformative promise remains unfulfilled. A small number of Member States continue to block progress towards streamlining development in WIPO activities and operationalizing TRIPS flexibilities. Achieving SDGs should be an integral part of WIPO’s mandate legally grounded in the UN-WIPO Agreement.
Statement by the South Centre to the WIPO Assemblies on the Reappointment of the Director General, Daren Tang
21 April 2026
The South Centre looks forward to a further engagement of WIPO Director General Daren Tang during his second term with the development dimension of intellectual property.
In our statement to the WIPO Assemblies on 21 April, we highlight priorities that should be included in the new Medium-Term Strategic Plan. These include: prioritize development, technology transfer, fee reductions for developing countries and LDCs, and a broader focus on innovation, not only on the role of IP.
STATEMENT BY DR. CARLOS CORREA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE SOUTH CENTRE, TO THE MINISTERS AND GOVERNORS MEETING OF THE INTERGOVERNMENTAL GROUP OF TWENTY-FOUR (G-24)
14 April 2026, Washington, D.C.
See the South Centre’s statement to the G-24 below.
A Regional Tax Cooperation Initiative Under the ECOWAS Framework
The South Centre is supporting two of its Member States, Liberia and Sierra Leone, in implementing a pilot Simultaneous Tax Examination on Multinational Enterprises (MNEs), in partnership with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission. The pilot, which can generate potentially substantial tax revenues, will operationalize the ECOWAS Supplementary Act on Mutual Administrative Assistance in Tax Matters. The pioneering pilot, potentially the first of its kind in the Global South, will develop audit capacity, generate domestic revenue, and build a model that can be scaled across other Member States of the South Centre and ECOWAS.
Read more in the press release jointly issued with ECOWAS and the governments of Liberia and Sierra Leone (également disponible en français/também disponível em português):
South Centre Statement to the Sixth meeting of the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement (IGWG6)
23 March 2026
Will countries at the World Health Organization (WHO) finalize negotiations this week on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System to open way to signature of the Pandemic Agreement? Read the South Centre’s statement to the sixth IGWG:
The South Centre successful in elevating Global South voices in the fight against antimicrobial resistance, with support from United Kingdom’s Fleming Fund
Geneva | 5 March 2026
As the world intensifies efforts to confront antimicrobial resistance (AMR), one of the gravest global health and development threats of our time, the South Centre has supported low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to strengthen their positions in global governance and policy processes.
A newly released impact report documents how the South Centre, with support from the United Kingdom’s Fleming Fund, has played a catalytic role between 2018 and 2025 in systematically improving Global South engagement in AMR governance, policy discourse, and civil society – led action.
Equity, Rule-of-Law, Coordination, Inclusiveness and Action
Intervention by Carlos Correa, South Centre Executive Director
Seminar on Global Governance
24 February 2026
‘Equity, Rule-of-Law, Coordination, Inclusiveness and Action’ are essential for the preservation and further improvement of the multilateral system, which is of vital importance for developing countries and the international community as a whole.
The South Centre Executive Director made three observations concerning the themes suggested for this panel.
Strengthening the role of International Geneva under recognized principles of global governance and international solidarity, can effectively support the development efforts in the Global South and it can contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
The South Centre expressed that it is always ready to cooperate in this endeavor.
South Centre Statement to IGWG5 on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
9 February 2026
The World Health Organization (WHO) Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) is reconvening to negotiate a Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System to make operational Article 12 of the WHO Pandemic Agreement, concluded in May 2025 but requiring conclusion of the PABS to move towards ratifications. The Fifth Meeting of the IGWG (IGWG5) will meet from 9-14 February 2026, and the negotiations are meant to conclude by May 2026.
The South Centre has made a statement to the IGWG5 highlighting the imbalance in the current Bureau text. The statement of the South Centre is reproduced below.
South Centre Statement submitted to Session Three: A Fair and a Just Future for All:Critical Minerals; Decent Work; Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Carlos Correa, South Centre Executive Director, highlighted at the G20 Leaders’ Summit that while the world is transitioning to a critical mineral-intensive future, resource-rich poor countries are stuck at the bottom of the value chain. On AI, he stressed that the United Nations should continue to play an important role in shaping the international AI governance.
