Mr. Bjorn Kummel, Chair of the WHO Member States Working Group on Sustainable Financing; Dr. Tedros Ghebreyesus, WHO Director General; The Vice Chairs of the Working Group drawn from Australia, Indonesia, Ghana, Mexico and Tunisia; Member States ; distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen:
In my capacity as Chair of the WHO Executive Board, I am pleased to join you for this final meeting of the WHO Member States Working Group on Sustainable Financing.
I wish to thank WHO Member States for their commitment, dedication and willingness to deliberate on this important issue, following the decision taken by the 148th Session of the Executive Board establishing the Working Group.
Sustainable Financing of WHO is both a long-standing and complex issue, given its intersection between three interrelated dimensions of Governance, Budget control and prioritization and the Nature and sources of Funding. That notwithstanding, I am sure you will agree with me that the primary responsibility of adequately financing the organisation lies with WHO Member States.
Ladies and Gentlemen, The COVID-19 pandemic continues to highlight the discrepancy between what the world expects of WHO and what it can deliver within the available resources and existing capacity.
In early 2020, the future of WHO was placed in the spotlight when the organisation was confronted by a potential significant funding shortfall with wide reaching implications for global health.
It is for these reasons therefore that the Executive Board, during its 148th Session, decided to establish the Working Group, in order to enable WHO to have the robust structures and capacities needed to fulfil its core functions as defined in the Constitution.
I am pleased that there is an agreement amongst Member States on the need for WHO to be equipped to respond to the changing public health environment and to address areas – such as emergency preparedness, neglected tropical diseases, noncommunicable diseases and universal health coverage – that traditionally do not appeal to a broad spectrum of voluntary contributors.
Sustainable financing should be viewed through the prisms of Alignment with the approved programme budget, Transparency, Predictability and Flexibility.
Dear colleagues, I wish to inform you that the topic of Sustainable Financing was most recently discussed during the informal retreat between the WHO Director General and EB Members held in October this year.
During this meeting, EB Members took the opportunity to reflect on the Working Group’s progress and there was an agreement that this process was an important opportunity for the governing bodies to put in place the necessary mechanisms to improve the financing of WHO.
At the next 150th Session of the EB in January 2022, the Executive Board is looking forward to receiving the final recommendations from the Working Group. I therefore urge Member States to deliberate and come to consensus on recommendations that are bold and ambitious enough to make a meaningful change to the financing of WHO.
The principles underlying the Sustainable Development Goals call on us to ensure that we leave no one behind as we address the root causes for inequity. As such, it is critical that we recognize our interdependence as we take comprehensive and holistic actions to ensure the long-term sustainability of WHO.
As I conclude my remarks, I wish to acknowledge the leadership of the Chair and Vice Chairs of the Bureau for facilitating the extensive discussions by Member States leading up to this final meeting.
This final meeting presents Member States with a crucial opportunity to translate the collective agreement that the status quo is not acceptable into concrete recommendations that can be considered and adopted by the Executive Board in January 2022.
I urge Member States to recognize the importance presented by this moment in shaping the future trajectory of WHO as we grapple with the most devastating public health event of our lifetime.
I wish you all fruitful deliberations and once again assure you of the Executive Board’s commitment to improving the governance and financing of WHO.