Covid-19: International Response

Lord Hussain Excerpts
Monday 18th May 2020

(3 years, 10 months ago)

Lords Chamber
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Lord Hussain Portrait Lord Hussain (LD)
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My Lords, G20 leaders made a statement on Covid-19 after a virtual summit on 26 March 2020. It said:

“The G20 is committed to do whatever it takes to overcome the pandemic, along with the … WHO … and other international organizations, working within their existing mandates. We are determined to spare no effort, both individually and collectively”.


Furthermore, it says:

“We fully support and commit to further strengthen the WHO’s mandate in coordinating the international fight against the pandemic”,


adding:

“We will quickly work together and with stakeholders to close the financing gap in the WHO Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. We further commit to provide immediate resources to the WHO’s COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund”.


As we all know, the United States is a key member of the G20 and the largest funder of the WHO. It funded $400 million for the WHO in 2019 alone. However, on 15 April 2020, in the midst of the crisis, the US President, Donald Trump, announced:

“I am directing my administration to halt funding while a review is conducted to assess the World Health Organization’s role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus.”


In his view, the WHO failed in its basic duty in its response to the coronavirus outbreak.

In the light of the US President’s announcement, what assessment have the Government made of the impact that this will have on the international fight against Covid-19, and what efforts have been made to meet the shortfall caused by the US’s withdrawal of funds to the WHO?