Rome, January 27th 2021 – G20 Members agreed to establish a High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response. The decision was taken by the membership at the first G20 Finance and Central Bank Deputies meetings on Tuesday 26 January.
The Covid-19 pandemic has created a global health crisis, which is leading to economic and social crises across the world. Despite swift health and economic responses by countries, the human, economic and social costs remain unprecedented in recent history.
As the risk of other future health challenges is high, the crisis highlighted the need for a broad-based global effort to improve prevention, surveillance, preparedness and response.
Massive efforts have been underway to develop and distribute vaccines, testing capacity and treatments, and to strengthen disease surveillance networks, but resources to ensure global access are woefully lacking. Without an appropriate system of financing, the world may not be able to develop an effective and coordinated approach to manage future epidemics, with adverse consequences for all countries.
The Italian G20 Presidency, in line with the final Declaration of the 2020 G20 Riyadh Summit, intends to integrate the lessons learned from the current pandemic in the design of future national and international policies, as part of the update of the G20 Action Plan in 2021.
In this context, the Italian Presidency decided to propose this Panel to assess the current financing systems and propose viable solutions for the longer term.
In particular, the G20 High Level Independent Panel is tasked with:
- Identifying the gaps in the financing system for the global commons for pandemic prevention, surveillance, preparedness and response;
- And proposing actionable solutions to meet these gaps on a systematic and sustainable basis, and to optimally leverage resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors and the International Financial Institutions.
The Panel, co-chaired by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance, Singapore, Lawrence Summers, Former United States Treasury Secretary, and Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Former Finance and Foreign Minister, Nigeria, will build on WHO’s assessment of gaps in pandemic preparedness and on ongoing international initiatives aimed at enhancing global preparedness and response.
In particular, the Panel will interact with main relevant Global Health actors, including the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (IPPR) established by the WHO and in line with the goal of the International Health Regulations (IHR).
The Panel composition ensures broad regional and gender balance. The Panel members are world experts, who collectively bring deep knowledge and experience in finance, governance and Global Health.
The HLIP will provide an interim report to the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at their meeting in April 2021, before presenting its recommendations during their July 2021 meeting.