The General Programme of Work 13 (GPW) provides a framework for the WHO’s work in the coming five years. The new GPW, it is claimed, will strengthen the role of WHO in global health governance, enable the organisation to address its decade long financial crisis, and contribute to the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The areas of ‘strategic importance’ were identified through online public consultations in an attempt to make the drafting of the programme more transparent and participatory.