Your Excellency Csaba Kõrösi, President of the General Assembly,
Your Excellency Ambassador Omar Hilale, Permanent Representative of Morocco,
Your Excellency Ambassador Gilad Erdan of Israel,
Excellencies, dear colleagues and friends,
Good morning, and I apologise that I cannot be with you in person.
I have the honour to make these remarks on behalf of Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, and on my own behalf.
I thank Your Excellency the President of the General Assembly, as well as Israel and Morocco, for hosting this important discussion as we prepare for the High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Preparedness and Response.
As you know, on Friday, I declared an end to COVID-19 as a public health emergency of international concern.
Over the past three years, COVID-19 has caused us all great suffering and taught us many painful lessons.
We owe it to those we have lost to learn those lessons, and to transform that suffering into meaningful and lasting change.
COVID-19 may be over as a global health emergency, but the threat of another pathogen emerging with even deadlier potential remains.
And pandemics are far from the only threat we face. In a world of overlapping and converging crises, an effective architecture for health emergency preparedness and response must address emergencies of all kinds.
Based on an analysis of the multiple reviews of the global response to COVID-19 and more than 300 recommendations, WHO has proposed to our Member States a framework for action for stronger governance, stronger financing, stronger systems and tools, and a stronger WHO at the centre of the global health architecture.
Already, WHO, our Member States and our partners are taking several of these actions forward.
To enhance financing, a new Pandemic Fund has been established at the World Bank, with technical leadership from WHO. The initial call for proposals has generated high interest from Member States.
To enhance accountability, Member States are piloting the Universal Health and Preparedness Review, a new peer-review mechanism;
To enhance monitoring, WHO and the World Bank established the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board;
To enhance systems and tools, we are working on various initiatives across five core areas: collaborative surveillance, community protection, safe and scalable clinical care, access to countermeasures, and emergency coordination.
To enhance governance, Member States are negotiating amendments to the International Health Regulations to make them fit for purpose;
And to enhance international cooperation, Member States are negotiating a new pandemic accord - a generational commitment that we will not go back to the old cycle of panic and neglect that left our world vulnerable, but move forward with a shared commitment to meet shared threats with a shared response.
WHO also supports the proposal for a Health Threats Council, as a forum for high-level political leadership.
It's essential that such a council is grounded in WHO's constitutional mandate, and complements and strengthens existing governance structures, including the World Health Assembly and the Standing Committee on Health Emergency Prevention, Preparedness and Response, which WHO's Executive Board established last year.
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On one hand, we face the risk of failing to learn the lessons of the pandemic, and perpetuating the cycle of panic and neglect.
On the other, we face the risk of establishing multiple disconnected initiatives that drive further fragmentation.
As we recover from the collective trauma of COVID-19, we must work together to build a new future that is equitable, inclusive and coherent.
This year's High-Level Meeting is a valuable opportunity for leaders to chart a clear path forward towards that future, and a safer world.
I would like to use this opportunity to thank former President Ellen Sirleaf, former Prime Minister Helen Clark and all the members of the IPPPR, for their valuable contribution.
Thank you, and I look forward to seeing you all in New York in September.
