Ottawa, Canada, 20-21 September 2006. Workshop: The State of National Governance Relative to the International Health Regulations (2005) Ottawa, Canada, 20-21 September 2006.

Welcome and Thank You Conference Organizers Kumanan Wilson Professor Harvey Lazar Christopher McDougall Professor David Fidler Dr. Ron St. John

Objectives Understand the governance challenges to implementing the IHR – focusing on federal nations and decentralized states Emphasis on the importance of the IHR and the challenges of governance in a a globalized world

Goals To have a frank and open discussion on the governance challenges related to IHR implementation To learn from each other To provide key messages and learning materials for others

Process 2 day workshop 9 country presentations – one hour each 20 to 30 minute talks followed by a discussion Speakers are not representing their country unless they state otherwise

The objective is not to identify past problems but to look forward - to describe strategies to overcome potential governance obstacles to IHR implementation

Outputs Following the workshop, we will provide edited transcripts to all participants for their comments We hope to develop a list of key messages and suggested strategies based on the presentations Ideally, we would develop learning materials to assist countries and the WHO

Questions?