WHO Director-General's closing remarks at the Signature event on the WHO Investment Round, World Health Summit – 14 October 2024

Your Excellency Chancellor Scholz,

Dr Axel Pries,

Prime Minister Spajić,

My friend Bill Gates,

Dear colleagues and friends,

Guten abend. First of all, I thank Germany, France, Norway and the World Health Summit for hosting this event tonight.

Vielen dank, merci beaucoup, and tusen takk.

And thank you, Chancellor Scholz, for your personal engagement and commitment - vielen dank again.

This has been a very exciting and important evening for WHO.

I thank all donors who have contributed so generously tonight.

We very much appreciate the confidence and trust you have put in WHO.

We live in a time of multiple overlapping challenges:

Conflict, displacement, poverty, inequality, and polarization;

The ever-present threat of pandemics; the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases; the steady march of antimicrobial resistance; and the mounting health impacts of climate change.

Meeting these complex and overlapping challenges requires a clear plan, and the resources to implement it.

At the World Health Assembly in May, WHO Member States adopted the plan - the FourteenthGeneral Programme of Work - with an ambitious target to save 40 million lives over the next four years.

Tonight, we have taken a huge step toward mobilizing the resources we need to implement that plan.

For far too long, WHO has operated with unpredictable, inflexible unsustainable funding that prevents us from delivering the long-term support that countries need.

This Investment Round, and other initiatives we have started, like the membership fee increase, and the WHO Foundation, will help us to address these challenges.

The Investment Round builds on that foundation, and is designed to mobilize upfront the predictable and sustainable funding we need over the next four years.

It's also designed to put WHO on a more stable financial footing, so we are less reliant on a handful of large donors.

We know that we are making this ask at a time of competing priorities and limited resources.

That's why I have asked every Member State and every partner to step up - and I know that Chancellor Scholz and his team have been making the same request in the lead-up to this event. Thank you once again, Chancellor, for your personal commitment.

Every contribution counts. When we held our first pledging event at the WHO Regional Committee for Africa a few weeks ago, some of the world's poorest countries announced pledges, because they see the difference that WHO makes in their own countries.

Once again, my deep thanks to Germany, France, Norway and the World Health Summit for hosting us tonight, and to all countries and partners who have announced pledges.

Thank you for your confidence and trust as we work together to promote, provide and protect health for all people.

Vielen dank. I thank you.

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