U.S., Indonesia call for new G20 forum to prepare for next pandemic
Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON – The world’s biggest economies should create a
forum
to facilitate global coordination for the
next
pandemic
, as well as a
new
financing facility to keep up with emerging threats,
U.S.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and
Indonesia
n Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said on T
uesd
ay.
In a letter to their
G20
colleag
ues
, the two finance ministers said the
forum
would allow health and finance ministers to better cooperate and coordinate prevention, detection, information-sharing, and any needed response.
A copy of the letter, dated Monday, was posted T
uesd
ay by the Treasury Department.
Ms. Yellen and Ms. Indrawati said the COVID-19
pandemic
, which has killed nearly 5.2 million people around the world, had revealed a lack of readiness at the country level and a lack of coordination among
G20
countries.
“While we are making progress in fighting COVID-19, we also face a stark reality: this will not be the last
pandemic
,” they wrote ahead of Friday’s joint meeting of
G20
health and finance ministers. “We must not lose this opportunity to demonstrate leadership with a decisive commitment to act.”
Several independent organizations, including the High-Level Independent Panel headed by former
U.S.
Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Singaporean Senior Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam, have
call
ed for creation of such a
forum
,
Ms. Yellen and Ms. Indrawati said the
forum
would elevate and empower the work of the World Health Organization and other technical entities, but should include diverse voices and perspectives from around the world, such as the African Union.
They said a
new
financing facility could complement the resources of multilateral development banks and ensure sufficient dedicated, reliable financing so that vaccination and treatment can keep up with emerging threats.
While the two initiatives were complementary, their timetables need not be interlinked, the ministers said. –
Reuters