WOAH Governance Review Committee Update                                                                  

December 2024 – April 2025 

In December 2024, the World Organisation for Animal Health launched the WOAH Governance Review Committee—an important step to ensure the Organisation stays strong, adaptable, and ready for the future. The Assembly requested that the Director General establish this Committee at the 91st General Session in Resolution No. 12 of 2024. The Committee will take a fresh look at how the Organisation governs itself—across technical, financial, institutional, regional and legal areas—to keep WOAH effective and sustainable.

The Committee is made up of representatives from 16 WOAH Members identified by our five Regional Commissions, as well as regional advisers from other WOAH Members selected by the Committee representatives. In total, we have participants from over 30 WOAH Members contributing to the Committee. The Committee will provide its full set of recommendations on governance improvements to the Assembly at the 93rd General Session in 2026 and then work on a package of legal reforms for the Assembly’s approval at the 94th General Session in 2027.

Progress of the Committee’s Efforts

Since January 2025, the Committee has held three meetings to prepare its work programme and make initial recommendations on governance improvements. The Committee’s first report to the Assembly for the 92nd General Session is already available at 92GS/Adm-06. From May 2025, it will pursue a holistic review of how the Organisation governs its standard-setting and other technical decision-making processes, institutional bodies, regional footprint and financial sustainability. You can view the current list of governance reform ideas, which the Committee will tackle at 92GS/Adm-06 Annex 2.

To support this journey, we are bringing together colleagues from across the WOAH Membership, WOAH’s technical bodies, the Secretariat’s departments and regional offices to weigh in, too. All WOAH Delegates will have access to the Committee’s documents via the WOAH Delegate Portal, and consultation with regional WOAH Members is already embedded in the Committee’s work programme.

Contact: The GRC Secretariat ([email protected])