U.S., Indonesia call for new G20 forum to prepare for next pandemic

Andrea Shalal

STOCK PHOTO

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