Jakarta, February 17, 2022
- A High-Level Seminar which is part of the first series of Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (FMCBG) meetings was convened on Thursday (Feb. 17) in a hybrid format. Carrying the theme "Strengthening the Global Health Architecture", this seminar was officially opened by the Minister of Finance of Indonesia, Sri Mulyani Indrawati.
In order to strengthen the global health architecture, the theme "Recover Together, Recover Stronger" carried by Indonesia's G20 Presidency emphasized the importance of global cooperation in overcoming current conditions and preparing for potential future pandemic. The global cooperation is significant given the fact that every nation has considerably varied capacities in addressing health threats.
In her opening speech, Minister of Finance Sri Mulyani Indrawati said, "The G20 must be at the forefront of the process of strengthening global health architecture. It takes a strong commitment and more substantial investment than ever to tackle the current pandemic and mitigate its effects with the mobilization of health resources."
One of the issues currently encountered in the global health architecture is the gap in Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) financing. In this case, the G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force (JFHTF) is expected to discuss modalities in building G20-driven financing facilities, which is designed in an inclusive manner while emphasizing the important role of the Organization World Health Organization (WHO).
"The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has shown the importance of international funding flows in realizing the PPR. However, it requires an a solid assessment of financing gap by involving various parties." concluded the Minister of Finance.
In the first session, Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin highlighted Indonesia's three priorities to achieve a stronger global health architecture, namely: (i) increasing global health resilience; (ii) aligning global health protocol standards; and (iii) redistribution of global manufacturing centers and research centers to reduce future health vulnerabilities. In line with this, World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that funding schemes for health architecture must be carried out by a special agency and must be legally binding in manner.
In the second session entitled "Financing Mobilization for Global Public Goods", the United States Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen conveyed the importance of promoting private sector's role in the collaboration of global health sector financing. Speakers of session II agreed that the current Covid-19 pandemic situation and anticipation for potential future pandemic require the global community to unite and act together while ensuring that no country is left behind.
Furthermore, in his closing remark, the Governor of Bank Indonesia Perry Warjiyo said that strengthening global health system with a sustainable financing mechanism is a crucial part of the exit strategy towards Recover Together and Recover Stronger. With that, Indonesia's G20 presidency is committed to make this agenda deliver concrete results in 2022.
This High Level Seminar consisted of two discussion sessions. The first session which carried the theme "Strengthening the Global Health Architechture" was attended by speakers including Italian Minister of Health Roberto Sparanza, Indonesian Minister of Health Budi Gunadi Sadikin, Norwegian Minister of Health Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, and WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Meanwhile, the second session was attended by speakers including the United States Minister of Finance Janet Yellen, India's Minister of Finance Nirmala Sitharaman, World Bank President David Malpass, and Singapore's Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for Social Policies Tharman Shanmugaratnam.***
