First-ever Interactive Civil Society Hearing to prepare the UN High-Level Meeting on TB

Civil society, communities, private sector representatives and other stakeholders will call for urgent action to end TB and share asks for consideration by governments as outcomes of the UN High-Level Meeting on TB.

30 May 2018, Geneva, Switzerland – Representatives of TB-affected communities and civil society, and other key stakeholders, from around the world will gather in New York for the Interactive Civil Society Hearing to share their experiences with UN Member States, voice their priorities and call for ambitious actions to put the world on course to end TB by 2030. The Hearing is called by the President of the General Assembly, with support from the Stop TB Partnership and World Health Organization as a lead up to the historic UN High-Level Meeting (HLM) on TB on 26 September 2018.

Over 400 stakeholders from around the world have registered to participate and over 25 civil society, affected community representatives and other stakeholders will speak at the Hearing. Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, is scheduled to deliver opening remarks at the Hearing, joined by Mr. Miroslav Lajčák, President of the General Assembly, Dr. Ren Minghui, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization, Dr. Lucica Ditiu, Executive Director of the Stop TB Partnership, Dr. Eric Goosby, UN Special Envoy on TB and Ms. Ingrid Schoeman, TB survivor from South Africa.
 
The outcome of the Hearing will form the basis of a summary report which will be issued by the President of the General Assembly for the Member States. This document will be instrumental in providing civil society and other stakeholder inputs to inform the negotiations on the Political Declaration to be endorsed by Heads of State at the UN HLM on TB on 26 September in New York and submitted for adoption by the General Assembly.
 
A live feed of the Hearing, which will take place from 10:00 to 18:00 EDT, will be broadcast on http://webtv.un.org/, www.stoptb.org and www.who.int/tb.
 
Please click here to access the full program as of 30 May 2018.

This hearing will enable the active participation of representatives of Member States, people affected by TB, UN leaders, civil society organizations, parliamentarians, the private sector, among others. The Hearing will be divided into an opening segment, four interactive panel discussions and a closing segment. Participants will discuss the following themes: 

1. Reaching the Unreached: closing gaps in TB diagnosis, treatment, care and prevention;
2. Investing to End the World’s Leading Infectious Killer;
3. Innovation to End TB: new tools and approaches; and
4. Partnerships for Success – the role of communities in an equitable, person-centered, rights-based response.

For updates, information and resources material on UN HLM, please visit the following websites: Stop TB Partnership UN HLM on TB and  WHO UN HLM on TB.

Source: Stop TB Partnership