Lieutenant General Sir George Norton,
Distinguished guests,
Good morning, it's an honour to welcome you all to Geneva, and to WHO.
We very much value your interest in understanding the role and value of multilateral organizations in our modern world.
Three weeks from today, the 7th of April, will mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of WHO - the day our Constitution came into force.
Like the rest of the United Nations, WHO was born in the aftermath of the Second World War, and the realization that the only alternative to global conflict was global cooperation.
The authors of the WHO Constitution affirmed that health is a human right - an end in itself - but they also knew that the health of individuals and families was intimately linked to the well-being of societies, economies and nations.
In its preamble, the Constitution says that the health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security, and is dependent on the fullest co-operation of individuals and States.
The past three years have demonstrated just how right they were.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that when health is at risk, everything is at risk.
I remember speaking at the Munich Security Conference in February 2020, just a few days after I had declared COVID-19 a public health emergency of international concern - the highest level of alarm under international law.
I described this new virus as "public enemy number one".
After I finished speaking, some members of the audience followed me and said, "Tedros, are you not exaggerating?"
Three years later, almost 7 million people have lost their lives to COVID-19, and they're just the reported deaths. We know the true number is much higher.
But the impacts of the pandemic go far beyond the death and disease caused by the virus itself.
The pandemic has caused great social upheaval, eroding trust between people, governments and institutions, fuelled by a torrent of mis- and disinformation.
The pandemic has also caused great economic upheaval. Millions of people lost their livelihoods, many were pushed into poverty, businesses were closed, and the global economy was plunged into its sharpest downturn since the Great Depression.
And the pandemic also caused great political upheaval, both within and between nations.
Vaccines, masks, "lockdowns" and other public health measures have been heavily politicised;
Some leaders have lost their jobs as a result of their handling of the pandemic; and you are well aware of the ways in which the pandemic has exacerbated geopolitical tensions globally.
The key issue now is whether we will learn the mistakes the pandemic has taught us, so that we don't repeat them in future.
For decades, the global response to epidemics and pandemics has operated on a cycle of panic and neglect.
The world throws money at an outbreak, and when it's over, we forget about it and do nothing to prevent the next one.
Already, we see signs that the cycle of panic and neglect is repeating.
The World Economic Forum's Global Risk Report, a survey of 1200 leaders that ranks the likely impact of risks, found that infectious diseases ranks only number 27 out of 32 perceived risks over the long term.
In terms of risk preparedness, the same survey finds that leaders perceive infectious diseases as the risk for which the world is best prepared, after terrorist attacks.
We see things very differently.
There have been many reviews of the global response to the pandemic, with more than 300 recommendations.
In response to those reviews and recommendations, WHO has proposed a new framework for the global architecture for health emergency preparedness and response.
This framework includes key actions for stronger governance, stronger financing, stronger systems and tools, and a stronger WHO.
Already, some of the parts of this framework are being constructed.
A new Pandemic Fund has been established at the World Bank, to provide funding for countries that need it most to strengthen health security;
We established the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence, which is now working with almost 250 institutions around the world to ensure we detect signals of new outbreaks at the earliest possible opportunity;
We have also established the mRNA Technology Transfer Hub in South Africa, which is transferring mRNA technology to 15 countries around the world. Our aim is to support more countries to develop their own vaccine manufacturing capacity, to avoid the inequitable access to vaccines that we saw in this pandemic.
And as you may be aware, our Member States are now negotiating a legally-binding accord on pandemic preparedness and response, to provide the basis for international cooperation that was so sadly lacking during this pandemic.
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At exactly the moment when the world needed to come together to face this common threat as one, the pandemic has been marked by a chaotic patchwork of responses, fuelled by narrow nationalism.
We can only face shared threats with a shared response, based on a shared commitment to solidarity and equity.
That is what the pandemic accord is all about: a generational agreement between nations to work in cooperation - not in competition - to prepare for and respond to epidemics and pandemics.
This accord would be an instrument of international law, similar to the many other accords and treaties that nations have agreed in the United Nations - on nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, climate change, tobacco control and more.
75 years since the founding of WHO, the need for international cooperation is more important than ever.
Multilateralism isn't always easy. In fact, it's never easy. It's often slow, involves painstaking negotiation and compromise.
But it's worth it, because as the saying goes, if you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together.
Thank you once again for your interest. I hope your visit is enriching and rewarding.
