ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Regulatory Science
The World Health Organization Coalition of Interested Parties Network: A unified and coordinated approach to regulatory system strengthening
ANDREA KEYTER 1
Tariro Sithole 2
Alireza Khadem Broojerdi 1
Jude Nwokike 3
Martin Harvey-Allchurch 4
Hiiti Baran Sillo 5
1. World Health Organization (Switzerland), Geneva, Switzerland
2. Organisation mondiale de la Sante pour Afrique, Brazzaville, Republic of Congo
3. United States Pharmacopeial Convention, Maryland, United States
4. European Medicines Agency, Amsterdam, Netherlands
5. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
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Abstract
Strong and effective regulatory systems are essential for achieving universal health coverage and ensuring access to safe, effective and quality-assured medical products. Yet, many countries have not yet achieved a well-functioning, stable and integrated regulatory system, with capacity gaps continuing to hinder the performance of national regulatory authorities. In response, the World Health Organization developed the Five-Step Capacity Building Model to guide and strengthen regulatory systems and the Global Benchmarking Tool, and further established the Coalition of Interested Parties (CIP) Network as a global coordination mechanism to unify and optimize regulatory system strengthening support. This manuscript describes the development, operationalization and measurable impact of the CIP Network, which has grown to include 33 active members, including leading global donors, development agencies and technical partners. Between 2023 and 2025, the CIP Network facilitated over USD 235 million in targeted investment and coordinated nearly 600 technical activities across more than 50 countries. Anchored by WHO's Global Benchmarking Tool and the implementation of Institutional Development Plans (IDPs), the Network operationalizes support through country-led coordination, shared visibility of priorities, continuous communication and accountability tracking. Member contributions span all regulatory functions, enabling rapid deployment of context-specific technical expertise. Regional and country-level case studies illustrate the transformative effect of this approach, demonstrating regulatory system strengthening, accelerated IDP implementation and maturity-level progression within a short timeframe. The CIP Network's structured, scalable and country-driven model exemplifies how coordinated, evidence-informed and partner-aligned mechanisms can deliver sustainable improvements in regulatory performance, serving as a blueprint for global regulatory strengthening.
Summary
Keywords
Coalition of Interested Parties (CIP) Network, global benchmarking tool (GBT), national regulatory authority (NRA), Regulation of medical products, Regulatory Systems Strengthening (RSS)
Received
15 October 2025
Accepted
02 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 KEYTER, Sithole, Khadem Broojerdi, Nwokike, Harvey-Allchurch and Sillo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: ANDREA KEYTER
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.