The director general had given his approval the day before, but it is now official. The 194 member countries of the WHO, including the United States and China, agreed on Tuesday May 19 on a resolution providing for an "independent evaluation" of the response of the UN agency to the pandemic of Covid-19.

This text approved by consensus provides for launching "as soon as possible (...) a process of impartial, independent and complete evaluation" of the international action coordinated by the WHO engaged in the face of the pandemic, with a view to "improving global capacity for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. "

At the opening of the WHO Annual Meeting on Monday May 18, its Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had already announced that the agency would launch an "independent investigation" into the response to the coronavirus pandemic "as soon as possible "," at the appropriate time ".

The resolution comes after repeated criticism from Washington. President Donald Trump accuses the WHO of having ignored reports on the emergence of the virus, which he said dated December, and of being too lenient with the Chinese authorities in their management of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Donald Trump had already suspended US funding for WHO in mid-April and threatened on Monday May 18 to freeze it indefinitely if the UN agency did not commit to "noticeable improvements" within 30 days.

With AFP

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