EIB President and my good friend Nadia Calviño,
Excellencies,
Esteemed guests,
Dear colleagues and friends,
Good afternoon, it’s a great pleasure to be here.
My thanks to President Calviño for your invitation, and for your strong partnership and leadership.
I’m also delighted to see former President Werner Hoyer here in the room, and I’m really pleased to see how the relationship between WHO and EIB that began under his tenure is now going from strength to strength under President Nadia.
Since 2020, WHO and the European Investment Bank have worked hand in hand to advance global health, and together, we have achieved remarkable progress.
Through our collaboration, we have established new financial instruments to support critical health priorities, including polio eradication, primary health care, antimicrobial resistance, and malaria.
I think President Calviño has mentioned some of the partnerships, and you will excuse me if I repeat them.
We have brought together a diverse group of partners—from philanthropies to multilateral development banks —to drive innovative financial solutions for global health.
Thanks to the leadership of the EIB, our partnership has expanded to include other multilateral development banks.
Last year, the Islamic Development Bank and the African Development Bank joined WHO and EIB to establish the Health Impact Investment Platform — an initiative aimed at mobilizing €1.5 billion in investments for primary health care.
The Health Impact Investment Platform marries the financial muscle of multilateral development banks with WHO’s technical expertise, to strengthen primary health care, which is the foundation of universal health coverage.
The platform is already operational in Burundi, Ethiopia, the Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Kazakhstan, Maldives, Morocco, Senegal, Uzbekistan and Zambia, and many more countries are coming on line.
We have also introduced an innovative financing instrument of US$500 million that links funding to performance for polio eradication.
This was made possible through the collaboration of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the European Commission, and UNICEF.
In 2024, EIB funds enabled UNICEF to procure over 680 million doses of oral polio vaccines to support the response to cases of polio in more than 30 countries.
The benefits of these grants go far beyond polio, in strengthening immunization systems and expanding essential health services to address many other health needs.
As part of the Global Gateway strategy, we are also working with the European Commission, EU Member States, the EIB and African partners on the MAV+ initiative, which aims to support local manufacturing of vaccines, medicines and health technology in Africa.
As you know, one of the key weaknesses exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic was inequitable access to vaccines and other medical countermeasures, so the MAV+ initiative is very important for addressing this weakness, based on the lessons learned from the pandemic.
And just today, we announced the latest project in our partnership, a €10 million contribution to re-establish the Central Public Health Laboratory in Lebanon, and expand access to essential medicines.
This grant will help Lebanon to detect, prevent and respond rapidly to outbreaks of infectious disease, and will also strengthen primary health care centres to supply medicines for 50 000 people with diseases including diabetes, cardiovascular issues, and cancer.
We are deeply grateful to EIB, especially to the President, for this generous grant, which will help strengthen Lebanon’s health infrastructure at a critical time.
WHO very much values our relationship with the EIB, and we look forward to deepening that relationship in the months and years ahead.
Our teams are now working to develop new financial solutions to expand our partnership and strengthen our support for countries, and expand the list of countries which I outlined earlier.
I also thank the EU Commission, President Ursula von der Leyen and Team Europe for their strong and steadfast support for WHO and global health.
We very much hope that health will remain a high priority in the Global Gateway strategy, and in the next multiannual financial framework of the European Union.
Because investments in health are investments in competitiveness, innovation and economic growth, as the theme of this forum indicates.
My friends, I know you are all interested in what I have to say about the announcement by the United States that it intends to withdraw from WHO, so let me say a few words.
We believe this decision is a lose-lose-lose: it’s bad for WHO, but it’s also bad for the United States, and it’s bad for the world.
Among the reasons given in the Executive Order for the U.S. withdrawal are that WHO has failed to institute urgently-needed reforms, and that the U.S. contributes disproportionately more than China to WHO.
In fact, over the past seven years, we have implemented the deepest set of reforms in WHO’s history, to make us more effective, efficient and impact-driven. Of course, change is a constant and we have to continuously improve, and we would be happy to accept more changes – and we should.
And one of the main areas of reform has been the financing of the organization.
When we began our Transformation seven years ago, we identified our over-reliance on a handful of traditional donors as a major risk, and we have made several steps to broaden our donor base and mitigate that risk.
We established the WHO Foundation, to access new sources of funding including the private sector;
Last year we conducted the WHO Investment Round, which helped to mobilize resources we need to implement our global strategy over the next four years;
And most significantly, our Member States agreed to progressively increase assessed contributions to 50% of our base budget, which will make our funding more predictable, flexible and sustainable.
Together, these changes will transform WHO’s financial stability over the long-term, and reduce the burden on traditional donors.
So if this is what the U.S. wants, it’s also what WHO wants: a broader donor base, to have sustainable financing. So this cannot be a good reason to leave WHO.
At the same time, we are taking additional steps to address the crisis we face now, with a three-pronged approach:
First, we are tightening our belts, realizing efficiency gains, and prioritizing to ensure we focus our efforts and our resources on the most critical programmes that deliver the biggest impact in countries.
Second, we are working to mobilize resources, using instruments we have developed as part of our Transformation;
And third, we are working to engage the U.S. We would welcome the opportunity for constructive dialogue, and hope they will reconsider.
Meanwhile, we are continuing to work around the world to serve our Member States and the people of the world.
As we speak, WHO is responding to outbreaks of Ebola, Marburg, mpox and more;
We’re delivering humanitarian aid in Gaza, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere;
We’re supporting the rollout of malaria vaccines;
We’re working to eradicate polio;
We’re expanding equitable access to lifesaving medicines;
We’re strengthening the foundations of health systems, especially primary health care – as I said, in partnership with EIB;
We’re supporting countries to promote health and address the root causes of disease in the air people breathe, the food they eat, the water they drink, their lifestyle, and the conditions in which they live and work;
And so much more.
WHO is a unique organization, with a unique constitutional mandate, a unique global footprint, unique global expertise, and unique global legitimacy.
Like the United Nations of which we are part, WHO was born in the aftermath of the Second World War, in the recognition that the only alternative to global conflict was global cooperation.
Our Constitution was the first instrument of international law to affirm that the highest attainable standard of health is a fundamental right for all people, without distinction.
But the writers of the Constitution went further, in affirming 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.
In other words, health can be a bridge to peace.
In a fractured world, health is one area in which nations can work together across ideological and economic divides.
Now more than ever, our fractured world needs a common cause to bring it together – and health can be that common cause.
Health is not only a byproduct of peace, it can help to bring it about.
Health is not only an outcome of development, but the means.
Ultimately, health is not a luxury for the few, but a right for all.
That is the right for which I and the dedicated, committed people I am honoured to call my colleagues will continue to work every day, with the support of the EIB and other partners.
Once again, I extend my sincere gratitude to President Calviño – I’m proud to call her my sister Nadia – and your colleagues at the EIB for your support and leadership.
Thank you for your partnership, and your commitment to a healthier, safer, fairer and more peaceful world.
I thank you.