Indonesia Encourages the World to Contribute to the Pandemic Emergency Fund

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Oleh Sugiarti, Senin, 25 Juli 2022 | 08:33 WIB - Redaktur: Sugiarti - 918


Jakarta, InfoPublik – Indonesia hopes that countries in the world can contribute to the establishment of Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) that has been approved by the World Bank.

This is considered necessary to strengthen global capacity in preparedness, prevention, and response (PPR) for future pandemics.

"We hope that other G20 and non-G20 countries can commit to contribute funds to FIF and together invite other parties to also contribute to this important global initiative for health," said the Head of the Center for Climate Change and Multilateral Financing Policy, Ministry of Finance, Dian Lestari, through her statement, Saturday, July 2,2022.

FIF is expected to be formally launched and start to operate in September 2022. In the coming weeks, the G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force (JFHTF), the World Bank, and the World Health Organization (WHO) will work together with FIF donors and partners, and other strategic stakeholders to develop a detailed governance framework and manual operation of the FIF.

"Indonesia’s G20 Presidency looks forward to support and contributions of all relevant stakeholders in a joint effort to strengthen the global health architecture," said Dian, who also represents Finance Deputy G20 Indonesia.

"We believe that through this work to establish FIF, we can show the world the value of multilateralism in terms of ensuring the world to better prepared for future pandemics," she added.

It is known, on Thursday, June 30, the World Bank Boards of Directors  approved the establishment of the FIF which will finance the most important investment at this time, namely health, to strengthen the capacity of Pandemic Preparedness, Prevention, and Response (PPR) at the national, regional and global levels, with a focus on developing countries, low and middle income countries.

The fund will provide additional resources dedicated for pandemic PPR, give incentive to countries to increase investment in pandemic PPR, improve coordination among partners, and serve as a platform for health advocacy.

The idea of ​​establishing a global health financing mechanism was initially put forward by the G20 High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) in 2021. This idea was then explored by the Ministers of Finance and Ministers of Health under the umbrella of G20 Presidency of Italy, and its culmination was then outlined in G20 Rome Leaders' Declaration.

Through the Declaration, the G20 leaders agreed to establish a JFHTF which was co-chaired by Indonesia and Italy, and assigned it to develop modalities for the establishment of a new financing mechanism for pandemic PPR during the G20 Presidency of Indonesia.

After extensive and comprehensive discussions by the JFHTF, at the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers' Meeting in Indonesia on 21 June 2022, the Ministers have expressed support for the establishment of the FIF under the management of the World Bank.

FIF will complement the financing and technical support provided by the World Bank by leveraging the technical expertise of the World Health Organization (WHO) and involving other prominent organizations.

FIF’s objective is to provide financing to address the financing of pandemic PPR to strengthen country (domestic) capacity in areas such as disease surveillance, laboratory systems, health worker, emergency communication and management, and community engagement.

FIF can also help address gaps in strengthening regional and global capacities, for example, by supporting data sharing, harmonization of regulations, and capacity for coordinated development, procurement, distribution and dissemination of preventive measures and essential medical supplies.

A Contribution commitment of more than US$1 billion have been secured for this FIF, which includes a contribution of US$50 million from Indonesia. Other committed contributions came from the United States, the European Union Commission, Germany, Indonesia, Singapore and the United Kingdom, as well as donations from philanthropic organizations, the Wellcome Trust and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

"The World Bank is the largest funding provider for pandemic PPR with active operations in more than 100 developing countries to strengthen their health systems. FIF will provide additional long-term funding to support low- and middle-income countries and regions to prepare for a pandemic if it occurs again in the future," said World Bank Group President David Malpas.

 

 

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