Tracking Progress on Social Participation for Health: Preliminary Findings from a Civil Society?Led Multi-Stakeholder Assessment of Implementation of WHA77.2

Why this matters

In May 2024, Member States adopted the WHA77.2 on Participación social para la cobertura sanitaria universal, la salud y el bienestar, recognizing social participation as a core function of health systems. The resolution calls on governments to institutionalize, resource, and monitor meaningful participation of people, communities, and civil society in health decision-making processes.

Two years into the implementation window of WHA77.2 (2024?2026), this moment represents a critical inflection point. Under the resolution, WHO is mandated to report to Member States on progress on a biennial basis, providing a high-level overview of global implementation trends. In this context, there is a clear and complementary role for civil society.

The period leading up to the third UN High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage (UHC) in 2027 also represents a critical window in which social participation will shape how UHC commitments are assessed, renewed, and transformed into actions. At the same time, ongoing debates on global health architecture reform underscore the importance of embedding civil society and community participation as a core and integral feature of governance processes.

About these preliminary findings

This civil society-led multistakeholder snapshot is undertaken in support of the Social Participation Core Group (SPCG) to provide more granular, experience-based insights into how WHA77.2 is being interpreted and implemented at country level, particularly from the perspective of communities and organisations directly engaged in participatory processes.

Developed through a collaboration between civil society organisations and stakeholders engaged in social participation for health – including the Consejo de Salud Global (GHC), Save the Children International (SCI), International Alliance of Patients? Organizations (IAPO), the Civil Society Engagement Mechanism for UHC2030 (CSEM), Amref Health Africa, Action against Hunger and members of the WHO Social Participation Core Group ? this preliminary assessment draws on perspectives from civil society organisations, community-based organisations, patient groups, academic institutions, and selected institutional actors across all WHO regions.

The assessment is based on a multistakeholder global survey conducted in March?April 2026 and structured around the seven commitments to Member States set out in WHA77.2. Findings were interpreted alongside WHO technical guidance, the UHC2030 ACT for UHC dashboard, documentation from the 2025 High-Level Political Forum, and selected peer-reviewed literature.

Key messages emerging from the preliminary findings

Early findings suggest that while social participation is increasingly recognized in policy discussions, implementation remains fragile. Across many settings, participation continues to be consultative, under-resourced, and insufficiently connected to decision-making authority, particularly for marginalized and under-represented populations.

These preliminary findings are intended to contribute experience-based perspectives to ongoing discussions at WHA79 and to inform the development of a more comprehensive civil society-led report on implementation of WHA77.2, planned for release later in 2026.

Recursos:

• • Declaración política de 2023 sobre la cobertura universal de salud: análisis integral y nota informativa del CSEM
  • Resolución de la Asamblea Mundial de la Salud sobre Participación social para la cobertura sanitaria universal, la salud y el bienestar
    • Advocacy Toolkit on Social Participation for Universal Health Coverage, Health and Well-being
  • The 2025 Global Monitoring Report
  • ACT for UHC Report
  • ACT for UHC dashboard