The Second Annual Plenary Assembly of the Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Platform convenedon 16 November in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on the sidelines of the 4th Global High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR under the topic "Shaping and promoting multi-stakeholder One Health solutions to address AMRby leveraging the outcomes of the UNGeneral Assembly (UNGA) High-level meeting (HLM) and its political declaration on AMR and the 4th High-Level Ministerial Conference on AMR". Hosted by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, this year’s Plenary brought together over 140 members, including governments, civil society, private sector representatives, and academia, financial institutions and philanthropic organizations,all united under the shared mission of tackling AMR through a One Health approach. 

The Plenary focused on unpacking the UNGA Political declaration on AMR and its 6 key commitment areas building on the outcomes and discussions of the 4thMinisterial conference titled “From Declaration to Implementation – Accelerating Actions Through MultisectoralPartnerships for the Containment of AMR”. 

With the adoption of the Jeddah Commitmentsearlier this week and its strong focus on implementation, the Plenary Assembly served as a great opportunity to align perspectives and efforts and catalyze a truly multi-stakeholder movement for action against AMR. 

Countries also called the AMR Partnership Platform to conduct a fully-fledged stakeholder mapping exercise to outline all relevant, national, regional and global initiatives on AMR and provide a gap assessment of how these can converge, build partnerships with each other aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 17 to create greater impact. 

Key Discussions 

The Assembly focused on the importance of practical solutions and action to turn the UNGA HLM political declaration on AMR commitments into concrete and tangible actions. In particular, the Platform will play an important role in channeling the multi-stakeholder consultations from the establishment of the Independent Panel on Evidence for Action Against AMR and the update of the Global Action Plan on AMR (GAP), two commitments in the governance area of the UNGA Political declaration. 

In addition, the discussionsemphasized the urgency of budgeting the National Action Plans (NAPs)on AMR and mobilizing sustainable financing for the global AMR response, reinforcing the global governance structures on AMR, ensuring access to affordable antimicrobials, especially in low- and middle-income countries, continue supporting research, innovation and capacity building, while strengthening surveillance systems at country level. 

Through a participative session called the "World Café” participants proposed tangible and actionable solutions to each of the commitment areas of the political declaration, along with the mapping of key stakeholders and actors to be involved and setting the indicators of success. Attendees also discussed the role of the AMR Partnership Platform and the global community in following up and tracking the collective progress on AMR in line with the commitment from the political declaration related to monitoring (art.28).   

Looking Ahead 

The Plenary concluded with a renewed call to action. Participants committed to fostering stronger partnerships across sectors and scaling up resources to address AMR holistically. The Assembly also spotlighted the need to empower low- and middle-income countries to strengthen capacity building, innovation, and regulatory frameworks to reduce antimicrobial dependence sustainably. 

The Platform’s next steps include finalizing a detailed roadmap to track progress in implementing the commitments of the UNGA Political Declaration on AMR and the JeddahCommitments, ensuring that the One Health approach remains central to tackling AMR globally. 

As the Plenary Assembly came to a close, there was a resounding agreement among stakeholders: the time to act on AMR is now, and collaboration is the key to success. 

Join the Fight Against AMR 

FAO and its Quadripartite partners remain steadfast in supporting members and stakeholders to advance solutions that safeguard public health, protect the environment, and ensure sustainable agrifood systems. 

For more updates, visit the AMR Partnership Platform webpage here.