The WHO Pandemic Agreement Negotiation: Introducing a New Database (The Pandemic Agreement Database)

In May 2025, the Member States of the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted a historic pandemic agreement following 3 years of intensive and complex multilateral negotiations. By providing primary data on the negotiation process, the Pandemic Agreement Database supports empirical and scholarly research across multiple dimensions of global health diplomacy. This article introduces the database, presents its principal features, and demonstrates how it can be used to trace and map the multilateral negotiation process conducted within the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB). Drawing on two concrete examples, we illustrate how data on actors, agreement texts, thematic issues, positions, and networks can be mobilized to analyze different aspects of the treaty‐making process. We argue that the database is of particular value to researchers and policymakers concerned with global health governance. By facilitating access to primary negotiation data, the structure and content of the Pandemic Agreement Database contribute both to broad analytical inquiries and to more targeted research questions. The article concludes by outlining some limitations and new avenues for research on negotiation dynamics and diplomacy in the field of global health.