Your Excellency, and my dear sister, Prime Minister Mia Mottley,
UN Environment Programme Executive Director Inger Andersen,
World Organization for Animal Health Director-General Monique Eloit,
Excellencies, dear members of the Global Leaders Group on AMR, dear colleagues and friends,
Thank you to our Chair, Prime Minister Mia Mottley, for your leadership in the fight against AMR.
Thank you to the members of the Global Leaders Group for giving your time and expertise to this cause, and for using your voices and platforms to bring more attention to antimicrobial resistance.
There has been real progress since the February meeting in Barbados.
Prime Minister Mottley, I want to add how happy I was to meet you in your beautiful country earlier this month, and then in Paris last week. And thank you so much for your leadership on non-communicable disease and mental health. And also, for your leadership of the New Global Financial Pact. That will be very important to countries.
The discussions around the global financial architecture will also benefit the AMR response, which requires bold actions and adequate financing.
This makes the GLG advocacy on sustainable financing and the ongoing work of the Quadripartite around the AMR investment case especially important and timely.
This work will help to inform the UN General Assembly High-level meeting on AMR in 2024 to accelerate the response and secure commitments for sustainable financing.
I urge the GLG to continue its advocacy on long-term funding for the implementation of national action plans and to address the antibiotic pipeline and access crises.
I also commend the efforts by the GLG to support the ongoing negotiations around the pandemic accord.
Your advocacy is crucial to advance this agenda with national governments, to reduce the burden of AMR on lives and livelihoods.
Addressing AMR is a crucial effort, because the clock is ticking. Every day that passes, the threat of AMR increases.
The world needs comprehensive and well-financed action now to prevent drug resistant disease developing and spreading. We have no time to waste.
I wish you a productive meeting, and I look forward to hearing the outcomes, and also your guidance. I thank you again for sharing your time and your expertise on this critical issue.