Diis, a community elder at a temporary camp in Modeka, Garissa County in Kenya, addresses WHO staff and health workers from the Ministry of Health during an oral cholera vaccination campaign. 17 February 2023.
WHO Civil Society Commission
Strengthening meaningful civil society engagement across WHO
The WHO Civil Society Commission provides a WHO-wide platform for strengthening engagement between WHO and civil society. It brings community voices, lived experience and civil society perspectives into WHO's work, helping to shape more inclusive, responsive and effective health policies and programmes and advance Health for All.
The Commission brings together civil society organizations from across WHO's six regions to strengthen dialogue, foster collaboration and provide recommendations on how WHO and civil society can work together more effectively at global, regional and country levels.
Civil society organizations bring knowledge, experience and perspectives from the communities they serve. Through the Commission, these perspectives help inform WHO's work and strengthen connections between global discussions and local realities.
At a glance
600+ member organizations
20–25 Steering Committee members
5 Working Groups
6 WHO regions represented
A unique role within WHO
The Commission has a distinct, cross-cutting role.
It is not focused on a specific disease, technical area or health programme. Instead, it focuses on strengthening how WHO and civil society work together across the Organization. Its mandate is structural rather than thematic.
WHO engages with civil society through many technical and thematic advisory groups, networks, partnerships and consultations. The Commission complements these mechanisms by addressing broader questions of participation, inclusion, accountability, communication and engagement at regional and country levels.
By bringing together organizations working across different health areas, the Commission helps identify good practices, strengthen participation in WHO processes and ensure that community voices and lived experience are reflected across WHO's work.
Our contribution
The Commission creates structured opportunities for civil society to contribute knowledge, lived experience and recommendations to WHO's work. Its contribution can be seen in practical outputs, stronger participation in WHO processes and closer links between global discussions and country realities.
