Distinguished guests, Mrs Preeti, Dr Tedros, Mr Chikvaidze, dear delegates, colleagues and friends,
As the Head of the Convention Secretariat, it is an enormous privilege to welcome you to the Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
We have a full agenda this week that will keep us very busy. Our discussions and decisions will determine the future for the implementation of the Convention – and especially for our efforts to strengthen it.
From the outset, I wish to express our deep appreciation to the President of this Conference of the Parties, Mrs Preeti Sudan from India, who is the first woman to serve in this role. Her leadership and wisdom have proven invaluable in steering us through a demanding intersessional period, and in preparing for this Conference.
I also want to thank all Bureau Members and the Regional Coordinators who have worked expertly and tirelessly to guide us since we last met in Noida, India, two years ago.
Please also allow me to express our appreciation – through Dr Tedros – to the World Health Organization at all levels for the tireless support we all receive in implementing the WHO FCTC.
Most importantly, I want to welcome the representatives of Parties to the treaty. Many of you have travelled a long way, and we are very grateful to see you representing different sectors of your governments and sharing the great work that is being undertaken by all to implement the Convention.
I wish also to welcome representatives from State Non-Parties and invite you – once more – to join the treaty as soon as possible.
And I welcome representatives from intergovernmental organization observers to the COP who will continue to support the work of this Conference. Our engagement at the international level with sectors beyond health has been of great benefit and has shown the power of multisectoral work to accelerate the implementation of the Convention. I wish, therefore, to extend our special thanks to Mr Chikvaidze for joining us today in representing Mr Møller and the United Nations family.
Finally, let me recognize the critical contribution that is being made to the Convention by civil society, and to warmly welcome all observers from nongovernmental organizations to the Conference.
This week, we are gathered to discuss progress and next steps in reaching the overarching objective of the treaty – protecting present and future generations from the devastating health, economic, social and environmental impact of tobacco.
As we benefit significantly from the inclusion of WHO FCTC implementation as a target within the Sustainable Development Goals, our general debate later today will be centred on the inclusion of the Convention in national plans to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
We will then move on to our high-level segment to examine tobacco and its impact on the environment, including climate change. This segment is intended to bring new perspectives on the implementation of Article 18 of the Convention, and I thank in advance the speakers for their participation.
I wish to take this moment to thank our two keynote speakers, the Honourable Attorney-General of Brazil, Minister Grace Maria Fernandes Mendonça, who is uniquely experienced to represent the complex legal challenges we face in implementing the Convention and the Director-General of DG SANTE at the European Commission, Ms Anne Bucher, who has taken office today and has given us the great honour of her presence which demonstrates the continued commitment of the European Union to the WHO FCTC.
I will close these welcoming remarks by reminding the Conference that this is a time for celebration. The entry into force of the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products is a landmark in our fight against the tobacco epidemic.
The Protocol, which builds on Article 15 of the Convention, will provide governments with a unique and powerful approach to eliminate illicit tobacco. For those countries that are Parties to the Protocol, please let me extend my thanks for your commitment to this fight. And, please let me strongly encourage all Parties to the treaty, who have not already done so, to seriously consider joining the Protocol.
Let me end by greeting Dr Haik Nikogosian, the former Head of the Convention Secretariat who is gracing us with his presence today at COP8.
I welcome all of you to Geneva for the Eighth Session of the Conference of the Parties.
The Convention Secretariat wishes you a successful week and is ready to assist you in any way we can.
Thank you.