Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response and Human Mobility: From Global Commitments to Operational Action

episodic mechanism. Second, institutional trust. Building confidence in public institutions must serve as both a primary objective and a benchmark of success in peacebuilding efforts. Excellencies, sustaining peace also requires adequate, predictable and flexible financing. As a multi-year contributor to the Peacebuilding Fund and a bilateral partner to several beneficiary states, Portugal has witnessed the transformative impact of target investments in health, education, justice and economic resilience. Yet, greater alignment is needed across the UN system, international financial institutions, regional development banks, and the private sector to ensure development financing directly reinforces nationally defined priorities. Peacebuilding cannot operate in isolation. As an incoming non-permanent member of the Security Council for the 2027-2028 term, Portugal will advocate for an integrated approach across peacekeeping, peacebuilding and conflict prevention. We are committed to maximizing the advisory role of the Peacebuilding Commission to ensure Council deliberations, particularly on mandates and transitions, are informed by local perspectives and directly reinforce national peace strategy. Portugal stands fully prepared to work alongside the Peacebuilding Commission and all international partners to foster more coherent, adaptive, and sustainable responses to global peacebuilding challenges. I thank you.

I thank Her Excellency, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Portugal. now have the floor, the pleasure to give the floor to Her Excellency Ms. Evelyn Bautista, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Honduras.

Your Excellency, distinguished delegates, Honduras would like to express its gratitude to the Kingdom of Morocco and the Vice-Chairs of the PBC for having convened this important dialogue. For Honduras, peace building is an agenda that is a central condition, not a central agenda. It's necessary for democratic government, the protection of human rights, and the generation of opportunities for our people. Our experience has proved that international cooperation is more impactful when it strengthens national ability to meet the priorities that each country defines for itself. Since 2018, Honduras has been in an important partnership for peace, with more than $24 million mobilized to strengthen institutions, promote consolidation of peace, as we cooperate with the United Nations and move in this direction. Cooperation, however, goes beyond financial resources mobilized. It lies in strengthened institutions, lasting ones, and particularly in the opportunities and living conditions that we manage to change. Looking at the projects, we've managed to change institutions, bring them down to community level, strengthen them, prevent conflict, and improve the participation of groups which in the past have always been excluded. This has left us with a heartfelt conviction: sustainable, lasting peace has to be built before crises arrive. It has to be built by listening, strengthening institutions, creating areas so that communities can participate in those decisions that determine their future. But it's only in this way, with a clear view of the route, the forward, the path forward that we can move. But there are still difficulties. The problems that have beset Honduras have led us to having a state of emergency. looking at the institution dealing with this, 70% of our areas are under a drought alert. And this complicates the already difficult conditions of many poor families who don't have access to food and water in Tela. Honduras calls upon the international community and its partners to mobilize resources that can enable us to meet the immediate needs of the communities affected here. so that we can also strengthen our resilience, our responsibility, and deal in particular with those who are most vulnerable. Honduras states once again it is willing to contribute to the multilateral system by standing for a membership of the PBC for 2027 to 2028. We wish to see early peace, inclusive, covering our land. person based with the exchanges of good practice, strengthening a corporation to meet those challenges that can jeopardize the stability and development. Honduras states once again that it is committed to real multilateralism that can produce results, that can mean that cooperation leads to stronger institutions, more resilient communities, better opportunities for future generations. Thank you.

Excellency, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Honduras. Now I have pleasure to give floor to His Excellency, Mr. Kazuhiko Endo. Senior Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from Japan.

Mr. Chair, I would like to express our appreciation for your leadership in convening today's meeting and steering this year's activities of the Peacebuilding Commission. As we mark the 20th anniversary of the PBC, in a time of rapidly changing political dynamics across the globe, the UN's peacebuilding efforts are more important than ever. We must recognize the critical role of peacebuilding in bridging the gap between humanitarian assistance and sustainable development, especially given the decline in international aid and the closure and scaling down of UN peacekeeping missions. Mr. Chair, to sustain peace, It is critical to strengthen state institutions anchored in inclusiveness and national ownership, with the principle of human security at its core, protecting and empowering every individual. In this regard, Japan has long supported countries such as the Philippines and Colombia, through promoting cooperation and rebuilding trust among stakeholders toward fostering resilient communities that leave no one behind. To effectively support nationally owned peacebuilding and conflict prevention efforts, the PBC's unique convening role has immense potential, bridging together international and national stakeholders, including international financial institutions and civil society. In this sense, the PBC's engagement with countries such as Sao Tome and Principe and Mauritania are good examples of how countries can utilize the PBC's unique value of offering a platform for sustained engagement with stakeholders. Furthermore, I cannot fail to mention the importance of support through the Peacebuilding Fund. As the PBF is reviewing and renewing its strategy, Japan will continue contributing to this process to better support locally led, inclusive and nationally owned peacebuilding efforts in the next strategy period. Mr. Chair, the peacebuilding architecture continues to play an irreplaceable role in supporting inclusive and nationally owned peacebuilding efforts by mobilizing resources and improving effectiveness. Working closely and collectively with partners, Japan will continue contributing to advancing peace across nations. I thank you.

I thank His Excellency, Senior Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Now, I have the pleasure to give the floor to Her Excellency, Honorable Anna Atanu Sport, Minister for Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children of Tanzania.

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Excellencies, at the outset, allow me to express the profound appreciation of the government of the United Republic of Tanzania to you, Mr. Chairman, and to the Kingdom of Morocco for your distinguished stewardship of the Peacebuilding Commission and for convening this critical ministerial meeting. Tanzania associates itself with statements delivered on behalf of the African Group and Non-Aligned Movement. Excellencies, the United Republic of Tanzania's perspective on national ownership is formed by six decades of nation building and by our active engagement in supporting peace in our region and beyond. Our founding father, Mwalim Julius Kambarage Nyerere, taught us that unity and peace are not accidents. They are product of deliberate institution building. From the Arusha Declaration to our present development vision 2050, Tanzania has pursued a model where states in the guarantor of conclusion. In practice this, translate into three interlinked dimensions. First, political and constitutional inclusion. We have invested in institutions that manage diversity and promote dialogue. Tanzania is a union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar and is a nation of over 120 ethnic community has demonstrated that inclusive governance, respect for the rule of law, and periodic democratic processes are indispensable for the institutional enlightenment. We are currently depending this through our national reconciliation and political dialogue process, which seeks to strengthen accountability mechanism and access to justice for all. Second, social economic inclusion is a precondition for institutional resilience. Tanzania is firmly of the view that peace building and sustainable development. I'm usually rain forcing. You cannot build resilience institutions on a foundation of inclusion, poverty and use an input and employment. Our 3rd, 5 fear development plan prioritize investments in human capital, decentralization through local government reform, and empowerment of women and youth as a direct peace-building dividend. An institution that does not deliver services equitably cannot command the trust of its citizens. Third, institutionalization of women, peace, security, and use peace and security agenda. In line with Security Council Resolution 1325, the subsequent resolution, Tanzania has adopted its second national action plan on women, peace, and security. We have moved beyond representation and to ensuring that women are active agents in peace processing, in security sector oversight, and in post-conflict economic recovery. Similarly, our youth constitute over 65% of our population. Their inclusion is not a favor, but strategic imperative for the sustainability of our institution. Excellence, in conclusion, Tanzania reaffirm its full commitment to multilateralism and to the central role of the Peacebuilding Commission as a convening, advisory and bridging platform. We pledge our continued contribution as a troop and police contributing country. and is a nation that has hosted refugees and facilitated peace processing for decades. We are confident that the revelation today will provide concrete and actionable recommendation for implementation of 2025 review, ensuring that the principle of national ownership moves from the to the reality. Tanzania looks forward to continue collaboration with Morocco as chair and with all members of the Commission in our collective endeavor to build inclusive, resilient, and accountable state institution is the true foundation for sustaining peace. Thank you for your kind attention.

I thank Her Excellency, Minister for Community Development, Gender and Children of Tanzania. Excellencies, we still have three speakers, and the interpreters have been kind to stay with us until 1:15 p.m. Beyond that, it will be only in English. So I will accommodate these three last speakers. The following speaker will be Her Excellency Cecilia Deng Miang, caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan, and she will be followed by Liberia, and the last speaker will be Panama. South Sudan, please.

Thank you, Chair, and congratulations for assuming the chairmanship of the Peacebuilding Commission. And I thank ASG Espir for organizing this important meeting that we are having today. For South Sudan's experience, peace has taught us-- peacekeeping has taught us that peace cannot be imported and strong institution cannot be built from outside. International partners can provide resources, expertise, and solidarity, but lasting peace must ultimately be nationally owned and nationally led. I would also just like to highlight three priorities. I know the time is not in our side. First, I would say international support must align with national priorities. Second, we must invest in people and institutions for long term. Third, National ownership must also be inclusive ownership. For South Sudan, this is particularly important as we continue strengthening our national institutions and advancing our political transition. We must also ensure that peace produces visible dividends. Citizens must experience peace through functioning institutions, education, healthcare, livelihood, infrastructure, and greater opportunities. This equally is important when considering transition in the United Nations peacekeeping operations. From the beginning, international engagement should ask, what national capacities are we building? What will remain when the international assistance is reduced or eventually leaves? The true measures of successful peacebuilding should therefore be the strength of institutions and capacities that remain. International support should strengthen national responsibility, not replace it, build national capacity, not dependency, and empower countries and their people to become the permanent custodians of the peace process. For that, South Sudan's national ownership is in practice, and I thank you.

I would like to thank Her Excellency, caretaker Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of South Sudan. And now, I give the floor to Dr. Ibrahim El-Bakri, Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister of Liberia.

Thank you, Chair. Excellencies, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, Liberia thanks Morocco as chair and the vice chairs, Bangladesh, Brazil, Croatia, and Germany, for convening a ministerial meeting on the theme that goes deep in the heart of what peacebuilding is actually for, not the paperwork of ownership, but its practice. Because, excellencies, ownership that lives only in a strategy document, a resource metrics, or a backstake in a conference room is not ownership. It is choreography. Real ownership is noisy, uneven, and felt. In a courtroom that finally sits, in a soldier who salutes a civilian oversight board instead of a warlord, in a peace hut where a rural woman settles a land dispute before it becomes a headline. Liberia raises this not as a theory, but as a lived experience across every pillar this commission has set before us today. On political ownership, Two peaceful, competitive transfer of powers between rival parties in 2017 and 2023 were not gifts from outside. They were choices repeatedly made by Liberians who decided the ballot box would settle what the gun once did. On institutional ownership, we have built, brick by brick, the institutional framework for a war and economic crimes court. Reformed our police and armed forces under civilian oversight and subjected ourselves to our own uncomfortable mirror, the deep dive review, because a nation unwilling to audit itself has no standing to ask others to trust it. On financial ownership, we are not asking to be carried. Through resolution 2719 and predictable financing for regionally led peace operations, We are asking to be met halfway, so domestic resources or domestic resource mobilization is not undermined by the arithmetic of unpredictable aid. To the Commission's own guiding questions, yes to joint analysis and pooled financing. Yes to the use of country systems, not systems designed elsewhere and shipped in on arrival. and yes to exit strategies, provided there are strategies for institutions to stand, not for partners to leave while a country is still learning to walk. We ask the commission and the international financial institutions and regional development banks to convene or to stop treating peacebuilding financing and development financing as strangers who nod at each other in the hallway. In Liberia and in every post-conflict state in this room, they are not the same fight. These are very different circumstances. Excellencies, we raise this not to be difficult, but because Liberia was the subject of this Council's attention for far longer than we would have wished, and we do not intend to return to that chapter. Which is why Liberia acknowledges with gratitude that is genuine and not merely protocol, the tireless work of this Commission and of the PBC's Liberia configuration, which is led by Sweden. You have been patient where the world was not. Present after the headline moved on and framing insisting that our gains, hard won and still fragile, are not quietly undone while attention is elsewhere. Our ask to this room is simple. Help us keep providing that ownership. Sorry, help us keep proving that ownership is not a form to be filed, but a promise to be kept. In the life of a market woman in Ganta, A student in Zoredu, a young man in Monrovia, choosing the classroom over a checkpoint. Liberia stands ready as it prepares to assume the presidency of the United Nations Security Council this December to carry this conversation from this chamber to that one. I thank you.

I thank the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Liberia. And our meeting must take place in this room immediately. Aussi, je voudrais exprimer nos vifs regrets pour les délégations qui n'ont pas pu intervenir durant ce débat très important, mais je voudrais leur suggérer d'envoyer leurs interventions écrites au secrétariat du PBSo afin qu'elles soient intégrées dans les annales des interventions de ce jour. Avant de lever la séance, permettez-moi de tout d'abord de remercier la vice-secrétaire générale de l'ONU, madame Amina Mohamed, les distingués ministres et chefs de délégation pour la précision de leur intervention, ainsi que le secrétariat pour l'appui apporté à la présidence marocaine. Nos échanges aujourd'hui ont convergé sur 3 points concrets. Primo, l'appropriation nationale exige des ressources prévisibles et non des engagements de principe. Secundo, Les institutions financières internationales et les banques régionales de développement doivent être associées dès la conception des stratégies de consolidation de la paix et non pas après leur adoption. Tertio, plusieurs délégations ont mis l'accent sur la nécessité d'indicateurs de résultats mesurables pour évaluer l'appui apporté aux pays inscrits à l'ordre du jour de la Commission. La Commission poursuivra l'accompagnement des Nations unies qui construisent la paix chez eux. C'est dans cet esprit que le Royaume du Maroc poursuivra pour sa part ce travail à vos côtés, convaincu qu'une paix voulue par les nations concernées est une paix qui dure. Je voudrais également remercier nos amis les interprètes pour leur coopération. La réunion ministérielle de la Commission de consolidation de la paix est à présent close. Merci infiniment.

Play all songs of the Kapil Sharma Show.

Good afternoon, colleagues, and thank you so very much for your patience. May I request the delegates sitting up on the first floor and the balcony view to also make your way down. Uh this is for the 115 event on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response hosted by the government of Philippines together with IOM. And apologies as the previous discussions were quite enriching and evidently ran late. So thank you for your patience. We'll be starting in just a few minutes here.

Play from the Kapil Sharma Show. What's the weather like in London?

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Okay.

Thank you, colleagues, for your patience. We now have the Secretariat IT services just to switch from the previous meeting. We really appreciate your patience. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, colleagues, and welcome to this discussion on the very important topic of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, and human mobility. It is a pleasure to welcome you all, both in the room here and those of you watching us online. on behalf of the government of the Philippines, our kind hosts today, and the International Organization for Migration, together with the other co-sponsors and partners present here. To begin with, again, thanks for your patience. We have a very generously sized room here today, as you can see. But we also wanted to make sure that colleagues online could witness the discussion. So rest assured that the important remarks made by our distinguished panelists, as well as the interactions with the audience, will be well recorded and communicated. To start us off, please allow me to welcome the distinguished Minister of Health from Jamaica, to present his remarks. It is an honor to welcome you, Doctor Christopher Tufton, who has been Jamaica's Minister of Health and Wellness since March 2016, having also previously served as the Minister for Industry, Investment, and Commerce, as well as the Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Minister, dear Doctor Tufton, May I request your remarks to share with us your opinion on how Member States can turn the global PPR commitments into concrete measures to strengthen preparedness, response and resilience while addressing human mobility and, very importantly, cross-border health risks. I give you the floor.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair, and thank you for the invitation, and welcome to my colleagues at the head table and those of you in the audience and those online. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues, and partners, Jamaica is pleased to participate in this important discussion on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response, and human mobility. COVID-19 has taught us that pandemic preparedness is not simply about infrastructure, medicines, or technology. It is fundamentally about people. We cannot have resilient health systems without the health workers who staff them, lead them, and respond when systems are under extraordinary pressure. For Jamaica, human resource for health is not a secondary issue within the pandemic preparedness. It is one of its foundations, and countries can contribute to building workforce resilience. How can member states translate global PPPR commitments into practical action that strengthens preparedness, response, and resilience while accounting for human mobility and cross-border health risks? That's the question. Responsible, ethical, and purposeful regional and international cooperation efforts can be a practical tool in translating global pandemic prevention, preparedness, preparation, and response commitments into meaningful action. This can include joint specialist training, faculty and specialist exchange, cross-country clinical training placements, technical assistance, and partnerships between health training institutions. Practical mechanisms should also include ethical recruitment arrangements, specialist training, and strengthening regional response, such as shared training, regional surge capacity, workforce planning, and other cooperative arrangements that will strengthen our collective health systems. These arrangements can help developing countries build the specialist and emergency response capacity needed for pandemic preparedness while respecting the freedom of movement of health professionals. Jamaica sees South-South cooperation as an important opportunity to build capacity. We are already pursuing international partnerships, including arrangements with Ghana, Nigeria, the Philippines, and India, alongside our own investments in scholarships, specialist training, and diaspora engagement. We would encourage member states to expand these mutually beneficial partnerships so that countries can share expertise, strengthen training pipelines, and develop sustainable specialist capacity. We continue to emphasize that human resource mobility should be part of the solution and not a source of further vulnerability. Some specific examples, Jamaica's reality. Jamaica has made human resource development an important part of its national development agenda. Our health strategic plan 2030 identifies a specific goal, the need to ensure human resources for health that are sufficient in numbers and competencies and which are aligned with the model of care. However, we continue to face significant challenges as do many other countries. There is a shortage of clinical staff and other specialist public health personnel. At the same time, attrition and migration remain major concerns. Jamaica has trained health professionals who have subsequently migrated, while the country continues to experience demand for specialists, but it does not yet have in sufficient numbers. This is the paradox we want to bring to this discussion. Jamaica needs to retain the professionals it has, train more professionals for the future, and at the same time, recruit urgently to fill critical gaps. With technical support received from the Pan American Health Organization, Jamaica now has a human resource for health policy and implementation plan aligned with our Vision 2030, a 10-year strategic plan. The policy addresses staff welfare, workforce shortages, skills gaps, migration, continuing professional development, retention, and deployment to underserved areas. We're investing in training and specialist development. One of our flagship initiatives is the Dr. Barry Wind Memorial Scholarship that was launched in 2024 to provide financial assistance to new and continued studies pursuing education and training in healthcare-related fields. Scholarships provide up to $1 million Jamaican, about $7,000 US, annually to each successful recipient for both undergraduate and graduate studies in priority healthcare fields. This year, just over 140 students were awarded scholarships, bringing the total number to 600 who have benefited under the initiative. The scholarship program represents a projected investment by the government of Jamaica of 2.5 billion Jamaican dollars, about 15, 17 million US, over its life cycle. The initiative is critical to addressing shortages of healthcare professionals, while creating an environment that encourages trained health professionals to retain in the country and contribute to national development. We have signed several bilateral agreements and memorandum of understanding for the provision of specialist nurses and nursing educators. Specialist nurses from Ghana are expected to join our workforce at the end of September. Similar agreements are also to be signed with the Republic of Nigeria, and we expect to sign that here at the UN. We also have an MOU with the government of the Philippines for capacity building and knowledge sharing in healthcare management and health professional training and certification. And plans are progressing for exchange visits for expert nurses and other healthcare professionals. We anticipate positive results from these collaboration. Finally, in 2026, the Ministry of Health and Wellness establish an international recruitment unit to coordinate recruitment, specialist training, and international partnerships. We are also engaging specialist nurses from the Jamaican diaspora. And these investments demonstrate for us the commitment we have to human resources and upskilling and upgrading our talents or local capacities. So, Excellencies, the theme today has urged us to think not only multilaterally, but intergenerationally The decisions we make today will determine whether the next generation inherits health systems with a sustainable workforce or systems that remain permanently dependent on emergency recruitment and external support. Our objective should therefore be to build, retain, and replenish the global health workforce as we seek to strengthen our collective capacities for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. I thank you.

Thank you, Honorable Minister, also for reminding us about the importance of investing in the next generation of the health workforce as we look into this very critical area in public health. So thank you for those remarks. It is an honor now for me to welcome His Excellency, Dr. Edwin Mercado, the Secretary of the Department of Health through a video message. He could not be here with us in person today, but has been kind enough to convey his sentiment through this statement. Dr. Mergato has been recently appointed as the Secretary of DOH, before which he has served as the President and CEO of PhilHealth, or the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. He has also led several medical centers, hospitals as president and CEO. And beyond hospital administration, he has a wealth of experience working with the ADB and the Zurich Family Foundation, as well as the Strategic Advisory Group in the Philippines on universal health coverage. If I may please have the video statement played now. Given this issue with the video, I would like to move on to our next speaker and wait for a cue when it is possible. Thank you. It is an honor now for me to welcome Ms. Ugochi Daniels. who serves as IOM's Deputy Director General for Operations, a role she has been in since September 2021. Her previous roles include Chief of Staff at UNRWA, UN Resident Coordinator in Iran, and Chief of UNFPA's Humanitarian and Fragile Contexts Branch, as well as various UNFPA assignments in the Philippines, Nepal, and for the Africa Youth Alliance. recognized as a UN SheHero. She champions women's health in emergencies, human rights, and peace. And as you can see, we are proud to have her as our DDG. I'd welcome DDG Daniels to now share with us a few remarks on how IOM is translating global commitments of PPPR into operational action. DDG.

Thank you, Poonam. Good afternoon, Excellencies, delegates, colleagues, and friends. Let me first of all start off by thanking the Government of the Philippines for bringing us together today and our co-sponsors, the Government of Jamaica, WHO, and the Pandemic Fund for their partnership and commitment to this important agenda. Human mobility is a defining feature of our world. Migration has shaped civilization, and as of today, more than 304 million people live outside the country where they were born. I'm one of them. And over 123 million are forcibly displaced. Millions more move every day for work, for education, for trade, family, or for safety. The message is clear. Our health systems need to keep pace with this reality that people move for a whole range of reasons. And we're meeting today on the eve of the high-level meeting on PPR, and we welcome the recognition in the final political declaration that migrants, refugees, and internally displaced people must be part of pandemic preparedness. We also welcome that it emphasizes universal health coverage, international coordination, regional planning, and multi-sectoral action. These commitments matter, but they only make a difference if they translate into action on the ground and for people. So ahead of tomorrow's high-level meeting, I'd like to highlight four areas where we can turn global commitments into practical action. when we put human mobility at the center of preparedness. So first, we need to strengthen preparedness at points of entry, in border areas and across borders. We see why this matters in the ongoing Ebola response in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Last month, following an Ebola health alert, Martine arrived at Bende Bende port in Kinshasa with 954 other passengers. Health officials, including teams from IOM, were there to screen and support them. Martine spoke about how the orderly screening and reassurance from health authorities helped protect her, her family, and her community. This is what effective border health measures do. They protect people and they build trust. Second, we need better data on mobility. Ebola outbreaks and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown that preparedness depends on understanding how people move, whether through displacement, cross-border trade, or travel along road and river corridors. That knowledge allows countries to design stronger surveillance systems and more effective preparedness plans. Third, we need to plan for the mobility of the health workforce. And we've heard very clearly from Honorable Minister how the government of Jamaica is doing this. The political declaration rightly recognizes that health workers are central to PPPR, and our planning must therefore reflect both the realities of their movement and the opportunities mobility creates to place skills and capacity where they are needed most. And if I use the words of honorable minister to build, retain, and replenish the workforce that is needed. Lastly, neither the pandemic agreement nor the political declaration on PPPR can succeed through the health sector alone. Foreign affairs, trade, labor, and border management authorities all have a role to play. Preparedness must be multisectoral, and it must work across borders. At the UN Migration Agency, we work with member states and partners to advance safe, orderly, and regular migration. Protecting the health of people on the move is central to our mission. The lesson is simple. Preparedness cannot stop at national borders, and it cannot leave people on the move behind. IOM stands ready to help turn these global commitments into practical action at borders, along mobility corridors, and in the communities where preparedness matters the most. I thank you.

Thank you very much, DDG, also for reminding us about the human face and reminding us about the beneficiaries that we hope to serve and serve stronger through these efforts. It is a pleasure now to welcome Dr. Nedret Emiroglu, Director and Head of Secretariat for the Intergovernmental Working Group on the WHO Pandemic Agreement. a very, very key role, and all the very best to our colleagues for the event next week. I'd also like to mention that she's going to deliver remarks on behalf of WHO Health Emergencies ADG Executive Director, Dr. Chikwe Ihekwazu, who had to be in DRC this week for the Ebola response. Dr. Nedret has been in this role at WHO HQ since 2020, but has also held several significant leadership positions, including in Europe and the Western Pacific region. Dr. Nedret, we are all very enthusiastic about the BPPR high-level meeting tomorrow. and are glad to see how this agenda has elevated preparedness as a global priority. From your perspective, how do you think we have done so far in terms of integrating human mobility, and what actions can we take going forward? Over to you.

Thank you. Thank you very much, and good afternoon. Your Excellency, Minister, Deputy Director General, Excellencies, colleagues, I'm very glad to be here and passing the greetings of Dr. Chikwe, who is in the Ebola response in DRC in Bunia now. And I would like to start by thanking the government of the Philippines, as well as the co-facilitators, government of Jamaica, and also the pandemic fund, but of course, the IOM for convening this discussion. And thanks to the travel and transport partners that WHO works--

We have two speakers.

Should I continue? That WHO collaborates very closely with the travel and trade partners. So if you look at where we are now, Progress is real, but implementation remains uneven. At the global level, we have a stronger foundation. The amended international health regulations, which entered into force last year in September, strengthens the national coordination as well as the capacities at the points of entry. And another legally binding document, the WHO Pandemic Agreement, adopted again in May last year, provides a further framework for multi-sectorial preparedness, stronger health systems, international cooperation, and equitable access. And human mobility is not itself a threat. The task now is to translate these commitments into operational arrangements for mobile and cross-border populations, such as refugees, migrants, internally displaced populations, or cross-border workers facing vulnerable situation. We see some operational progress. The mobility mapping, the routine-based surveillance, cross-border vaccination, and joint exercises help countries understand how people move and where they seek care and which services must be connected. So cross-border readiness is strongest when points of entry measures connect the people, the communities, with the health interventions that's required. A surveillance system which is going to be able to detect early, diagnostics to be able to confirm, protected frontline workers, and coordinated action between the neighboring health zones and the countries. For this purpose, community protection is core at the operational phase. Communities are not simply the recipients of information. They are the partners in detecting unusual events, understanding the risks, as well as shaping the feasible measures, supporting safe referrals, and sustaining essential services. This requires investment in trusted local actors before a crisis. So we have to work together with community health workers, the local leaders, civil society, and primary healthcare teams. And two-way risk communication and social listening must identify the concerns early. So at the center, trust is an important element to be able to get the communities to take early and be able to respond properly. However, we see some important gaps. Too many preparedness plans still assume the static populations. Cross-border information sharing is not yet routinely done among the countries locally, and points of entry are often disconnected from the primary healthcare and community-based surveillance. What is needed now is the practical implementation. So I will have a few concrete actionable messages. First, countries should systematically integrate mobility patterns and the route-based risk assessments, international and subnational pandemic preparedness plans. Second, communities should be at the center. They have to be reflected in plans, budgets, coordination structures, and they have to be involved in designing and testing the arrangements. The third, border health must connect to the emergency-ready primary healthcare and other community-based health services. And fourth, neighboring countries should institutionalize information sharing, joint planning, joint interventions within the engaging the different relevant sectors. And finally, mobile populations must have timely access to trusted information, diagnostics, vaccines, treatments, and continuity of care, particularly for the essential health services. This is essential that these have to be ensured by the political commitment and the resources that's required and the engagement with the communities that connect both sides of every border. And in fact, this is the essence of the WHO pandemic agreement and the high level meeting that we're going to have, which is included within its political declaration. It brings the whole of government and whole of society approach. Ultimately, success is not measured by how many people we screen at the border. It is measured by whether we detect threats early, share the information faster, protect people, including the health workers, and maintain the trust and keep the essential services functioning so that no one is left behind. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Dr. Nedret. Well noted on the importance of including population mobility data and assessments within national plans. So an excellent next step for us to support. I'm going to look at, I see a smile. So with that, I'm happy to welcome the remarks from Secretary of Health from the Philippines to conclude this keynote opening segment.

Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, Good afternoon and a very warm welcome to this high-level side event on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response and Human Mobility, from Global Commitments to Operational Action. It is an honor for the Philippines to co-host the discussion together with the International Organization for Migration and to welcome colleagues from governments, international organizations, development partners, and other sectors who share a common interest in strengthening pandemic preparedness. The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the interconnectedness of our society is linked to human mobility. When such health crisis strikes, mobile populations, migrant workers, and cross-border health personnel are often among the first to face uncertainties, yet they remain to be the backbone of our essential economies. As we move forward, carrying lessons from the pandemic, we have an opportunity to strengthen a preparedness agenda that is inclusive and responsive to these realities. This means ensuring that the needs and circumstances of people on the move is not considered as an afterthought, but as part of our broader efforts to protect communities and strengthen resilience. Leveraging the gains from our rigorous pandemic response, we must act decisively to fortify global health governance, anchor health security in preventive health measures, and deepen cross-border cooperation. We must strengthen adherence to the International Health Regulations, reinforcing every member state's capacity and obligation to monitor, detect, and address potential cross-border public health concerns. A robust border protection begins within our communities, schools, and workplaces. which is why the Philippines, guided by our Unified National Agenda, or UNA, for health, is scaling up its access to primary care, early screening, and health promotion in different settings as the first line of our defense. And because health hazards do not respect boundaries, we must deepen interoperability among governments, international organizations, communities, workers, and other partners to guarantee a swift and well-coordinated response. Operationalizing this vision calls for a shared sense of responsibility and accountability, as no single nation can address a health crisis alone. As we discuss how to move from global commitments to operational action, I hope we can strengthen not only our systems, but also the partnership and solidarity that make those systems effective. We hope to hear from different countries and partners about what they have learned, which approaches have demonstrated value, and where stronger collaboration can make a difference. On behalf of the government of the Philippines, I warmly welcome all our speakers and participants, and I thank the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, the International Organization for Migration, and all our partners for joining us in this important discussion. Thank you, and I wish everyone a meaningful and productive exchange that will forge actionable partnership and tangible progress.

Thank you. With that, we conclude our first segment for this event with our keynote speakers. So we would very much welcome you to stay with us in the room as your schedule allows. And again, with deep appreciation for your remarks and participation. And I'd like to invite to the podium the panelists for the next segment of our event today, which include Dr. Jerna Manatad from DOH Philippines, Ms. Priya Basu from the Pandemic Fund, Dr. Takuma Kato from Japan, as well as Dr. Julio Teixeira joining us from the Diaspora Organization. Please, if you can join us here on the podium. Thank you. So in the next segment, we will have a brief panel discussion with this very diverse group that has now joined me here at the podium. And allow me to start with Dr. Jerna Manatad, a brief introduction. She's a public health physician and is currently serving as assistant secretary at the DOH in the Philippines and plays a key leading role in the development of their national action plan for health security, as well as serves as the project manager of the Resilient Project Philippines. So, Dr. Manotad, considering the Philippines' efforts to address multiple public health threats while also managing the complexities of migration, could you please share what practical actions you have been able to take to strengthen pandemic preparedness and response, and what lessons would you share with other countries?

Thank you. Excellencies, distinguished speakers, and esteemed colleagues, good afternoon. The Philippines views human mobility as an integral part of pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. The movement of people across borders is a constant feature of our interconnected world, and our preparedness systems must reflect this reality. Our leadership in advancing Article 7 of the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement reflects this commitment, providing a concrete foundation for protecting health workers and essential workers while strengthening cooperation and health systems. For the Philippines, protecting migrants, including overseas Filipino workers, health and care professionals, seafarers and their families is a shared responsibility across countries of origin, transit and destination. Our experience has shown that mobile populations must be considered from the outset of preparedness planning rather than only when an outbreak or pandemic occurs. During the coronavirus disease pandemic, the Philippines established mechanisms for the arrival and repatriation of overseas Filipino workers and other travelers, including testing, quarantine, and coordinations with the communities, our local government, and other partners. At points of entry, the Bureau of Quarantine played a central role while returning workers were connected to their destination communities. This experience showed that border measures must connect with domestic response, referral and ensuring continuity of care. It also reinforced the importance of linking points of entry with national and community surveillance. Timely sharing of travel exposure, clinical and laboratory information can support risk assessment, contact tracing, cross-border follow-up, and local response with appropriate safeguards for personal information. Preparedness should also anticipate the needs of people on the move, including timely information, transport, their accommodation, referral and access to essential services and countermeasures. Making this work requires sustained cooperation across governments and sectors, including health, migration, labor, foreign affairs, border management, disaster risk reduction, and local authorities supported by international and development partners. And very important is the private sector. Just recently, during a hantavirus health event involving Filipino seafarers aboard an international vessel, Coordination with Dutch health authorities helped facilitate quarantine and medical care, and demonstrating the value of partnerships that can work across jurisdictions. To sustain these efforts, the Philippines is anchoring them in our National Action Plan for Health Security, aligning to the overall national security and our strategic plan for emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases for 2026-2030. So these frameworks align with our obligations under the International Health Regulations 2005, providing a country on basis for aligning priorities responsibilities, financing, and accountability across sectors. This helps ensure preparedness capacities between emergencies rather than rebuilding them when the next crisis occurs. We believe these experiences and good practices from the Philippines can be adapted by other countries to strengthen preparedness for people on the move particularly through stronger cross-border coordination, multi-sectoral partnerships, and the institutionalization of preparedness capacities before the next pandemic. Ultimately, global commitments are meaningful when they are translated into systems that work for people wherever they are. the Philippines remains committed to working with governments, international organizations, and other partners to put these commitments into operational action and strengthen practical, inclusive, and sustainable preparedness. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Dr. Manatad, also for reminding us about the importance of disaster risk reduction, the need to work with local authorities, and also for sharing these very operational examples of your cooperation, including during the Hantavirus outbreak, as well as working with the overseas Filipino workers. So some very good practical policy examples there. With that, I'm pleased to welcome Dr. Takuma Kato and would also like to thank the government of Japan for your interest and cooperation in today's event. He serves as counselor here at the Permanent Mission of Japan on secondment from the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. In previous roles, he has worked on medical education, telemedicine, and very importantly, the COVID-19 response, and also has experience working in Myanmar, Zambia, as well with other forums for WHO and ASEAN. So, Dr. Kato, looking ahead from the Japanese perspective, what actions, partnerships and investments would you say need to be prioritized to ensure that countries are better prepared for future public health threats?

Thank you so much for the kind introductions. Excellencies, distinguished panelist, colleagues, and ladies and gentlemen, It is a great privilege to address this side event today. First, I'd like to thank the government of the Philippines and IOM for bringing us together on this vital topic. Human mobility is deeply linked to global health security. Whether people move for work, for family, or because of the conflict and climate change, Their health affects us all. As highlighted in the draft political declarations, migrant refugees and mobile population face unique vulnerability during health emergencies. When COVID-19 emerged, I was working at Japan's Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare as part of the national COVID-19 response team. That experience told me first hand Health emergencies can quickly transcend borders and sectors, and that preparedness cannot be built once a crisis has already begun. Drawing on that experiences, as well as Japan's ongoing policy direction, I'd like to highlight three critical priority areas today. First, institutionalizing universal health coverage as primary health care as a foundation of the health security. Japan has consistently advocated for the UHC on the global stage, as recognizing the political declarations, a resilient health system, anchored in the UHC and primary health care, are essential for preparedness. When a crisis hits, society with strong primary health care system, where a population already has a trusted access to the quality health services, can respond much faster. Restricting access to care for mobile population creates blind spots in surveillance systems. Inclusion is not only a moral duty, It is a necessity to the public health. Second, strengthening cross-border and multi-sectoral collaboration. No single ministry or countries can manage public health threats alone. Effective preparedness requires a daily collaboration among health, migration, border management, transport, and labor authorities. Furthermore, Establishing the regional management mechanism for real-time information sharing and joint emergency exercise ensures that cross-border responses are coordinated before a crisis strikes, not after. Third, embedding mobility into national action plans and driving the assessment resource allocation cycle. Global commitment must lead to the concrete national implementation. We must ensure that human mobility considerations are fully integrated into the national action plans for health security. Furthermore, through tools like the joint external evaluation established by WHO, countries should regularly assess their capacity, including the mobility-sensitive surveillance and point of entry preparedness. These regular evaluations will help identify the specific gap and direct domestic resources, as well as the international financing, such as the pandemic fund, to exactly where the investment is needed most. In conclusion, pandemic preparedness in the context of the human mobility is about building the bridge between the sectors, between the borders, and between the continuous evolution and targeted investments. Japan remains firmly committed to working with member states, IOM, WHO, and all partners to build resilient, inclusive global health system where no one is left behind. Thank you so much.

Thank you very much for those remarks, as well as for emphasizing the importance of universal health coverage, but also practical considerations around joint preparedness simulation so that health systems can be ready before outbreaks strike. So, very good practical advice there, so thank you. With that, It's a pleasure now for me to welcome Dr. Julio Teixeira, Associate Professor of Surgery at the Zucker School of Medicine, and very importantly for today's conversation, President of the Cabo Verdean American Medical Society. He has been leading engagement on diaspora and health systems building, including through the Global Diaspora Policy Alliance. So, Dr. Julio, could you please share with us your perspectives on how diaspora communities can contribute to preparedness, risk communication, and outbreak response, and what unique resources and networks these groups can bring to this action?

Good afternoon, everyone. And first, let me thank the government of the Philippines for the kind opportunity to be part of this distinguished panel and the International Organization for Migration as well for the invitation to be here. It's quite an honor, and I'm delighted to be here today. I'm here because I represent the diaspora of the Cabo Verde Islands. and also in particular because I represent the Cabo Verdean American Medical Society. Cabo Verdeans have a long history of migration to the United States and are the first free Africans to migrate to the, and arrive on the New England coast of the United States over 200 years ago. to participate in the whale fishing industry. At the end of every fishing season, these brave sailors would return home. They would brave and sail across the Atlantic without GPS to these tiny little islands off the west coast of Africa. bearing gifts and clothes and food items, et cetera. Why? Because they left their families back. In these tiny little islands, which bore the scars of drought and famine and recurrent epidemics of cholera and dysentery and chronic endemic conditions like malaria that devastated the population. This tradition of over 200 years of returning is carved into our DNA. To return at whatever cost, is central to our identity and our resilience. So when the COVID-19 pandemic hit New York City, I was a practicing physician in New York City. I went into lockdown and then I reemerged back as a Cabo Verdean American physician. During this time of quarantine. In the depths of this quarantine, a neural network was established. Cape Verdean physicians, nurses were coming out of this emergence and begin to collaborate together. And we began to share experiences, discuss strategies, and collaborate with our colleagues back in the islands and the Caribbean islands. This cultural neural network is now a nonprofit organization with hundreds of members, health care providers that volunteer their time and wealth in return. with the same spirit of the whale fisherman. We return regularly, several times per year we return. We donate millions of dollars in equipment. We perform thousands of surgeries. We organize screening programs, and we do a lot of training courses. Our focus is primarily on training, education, particularly when it comes to emergency medicine and emergency response. However, we do it in our own time, with our own cost, and every time we go, we need to ask for permission from the government for temporary medical licenses of practice medicine, and permission from the National Medical Association, et cetera. These are barriers that we need to overcome. This past summer, the world witnessed in football what a tiny little nation can do when determined and organized. Cabo Verde went head to head with the giants of Spain and Argentina, some of you remember. And the blue sharks did so because of our diaspora. In football, when a dark-skinned little kid with a Portuguese last name is beginning to be noticed in the Irish second division, the scouts go to work. The Cape Verdean scouts go to work. Here's your passport, here's your language teacher, Here's your training schedule. Here are your coaches. And here's the schedule for the next match. We'll see you at the next match. Recruited, connected, incorporated as a vital resource. Governments need to have the same level of commitment to national resources in health care as we do in football. The healthcare diaspora needs to be converted into national assets. Here is your passport. Here is your medical license. Here is your assigned emergency response team that you can collaborate with on a continuous basis. If we are to be prepared for the next pandemic, If we are going to have the surge capacity to respond, we need to formalize these transnational neural networks. They are vital resources providing skills, training, and early intelligence. Governments need to incorporate them into the national healthcare strategy and emergency response architecture. Thank you very much.

Thank you for those remarks and for reminding us all about the power of volunteering, as well as the importance of recognizing the value in human resources for health. I'm honored now to welcome Ms. Priya Basu, who is known to most, if not all of us, And there was an intention, Priya, in inviting you towards the end, because the organizers wished for you to hear the entire diversity of perspectives, having listened to all our speakers so far. So, Priya, as we all know, serves as the founding executive head of the Pandemic Fund at the World Bank. and has previously led esteemed positions, including with the Women's Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative, and has worked as an economist with the IMF, as well as the ADB and UNCTAD, including, I'm told, previous experience in investment banking. It's a pleasure, Priya, now to invite you to share some reflections Based on these perspectives, as well as the needs flagged by representatives from governments, UN agencies, and communities and diaspora, how can financing mechanisms be viewed as a bridge for these implementation gaps? And how can these mechanisms, like the Pandemic Fund, support investments in health security and more specifically cross-border cooperation.

Well, thank you very much, Poonam, and thank you so much to the government of the Philippines and to IOM and all the other partners for organizing this meeting on a very important topic. And I've really found the perspectives that the panel members shared found them to be fascinating. So first, let me just once again remind us all that, you know, a key driver of pandemic risks is mobility, and that, you know, whether it's mobility due to fragility, conflict, or due to you know, changing land use patterns, changes in biodiversity, we are seeing mobility as a key driver of pandemic risk. And that pandemic risk itself is increasing. Until a few days ago, I used to say that there's a 50% chance of another COVID-like pandemic happening in the next 25 years based on scientific research, but yesterday I heard someone mention that there's actually more than a 75% chance of a COVID-like pandemic happening in the next 25 years. So, you know, that's kind of updated research. So now, pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, what does it require? We've heard about that being spoken earlier today and in this panel as well, but I just want to remind us that it requires being prepared and investing at the country level, at the national level, subnational level and so on, but also because of the cross-border nature of epidemic risk and the fact that pathogens don't need passports, viruses don't need visas, you know, we need to think about cross-border preparedness and regional preparedness and global preparedness. And what it takes at all these different levels is it takes investments in surveillance systems, and I would emphasize both surveillance related to humans but also animals, because zoonotic diseases are a huge cause of epidemics and pandemics. So surveillance systems, laboratories, testing capacity, including at point of care, and then health workforce. And we've heard a lot about that today as well. The honorable minister from Jamaica emphasized also the importance of workforce. So these are kind of some of the core capacities that need to be focused on and invested in. And we shouldn't see these investments as a silo. What we're doing in terms of investing in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, these are core health systems capacities that are absolutely critical to ensuring that resilient health systems are are developed and thereby resilient economies. And universal health coverage and pandemic preparedness, I think these are two sides of the same coin. We saw that when we didn't have pandemic preparedness, when we were all hit by COVID, decades of progress in terms of universal health coverage was reversed. So these goals are all extremely linked, and they need to be seen together. So, this is why, you know, when we talk about pandemic prevention preparedness, we need to really think about health system strengthening. And then there are some core aspects of health system strengthening that have just been chronically neglected. for decades. COVID wasn't the first pandemic. In my lifetime, there's been SARS, MERS, avian influenza, Zika, Ebola, now another Ebola outbreak. And each time there's an outbreak, we realize we're unprepared and that we haven't invested in these core areas of surveillance, labs, health care, workforce that are critical to quickly detecting, containing, and managing outbreaks. How can financing mechanisms help? So, you know, chronic underinvestment, we need to invest. We need to fill those capacity gaps. Those gaps need to be filled at country level as well as cross-country and regional. Again, we have to be led by country priorities, and we have to be led by regional priorities. We have to try to ensure that the gaps that are being identified, not here sitting in New York or in Washington or Geneva, but in Cabo Verde and in the Philippines, and that the countries that are vulnerable to these kinds of risks you know, that we listen to them and we center our approaches on them. We need to finance not just, as I said, national level and subnational and local level preparedness, but also cross-border and financing mechanisms in today's day and age where where overseas development assistance is becoming increasingly scarce, financing mechanisms need to catalyze resources. So we need to make sure that every dollar of financing, external financing that's provided goes the furthest. So coming to the pandemic fund, the pandemic fund is designed to do exactly this. We are the largest multilateral financing mechanism that's dedicated exclusively to pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. We were created, uh, towards the end of 2022 based on lessons learned from COVID-19. We provide catalytic grants to countries based on country needs and priorities. and these grants are used to strengthen national preparedness as well as cross-border and regional preparedness. Every dollar of grant financing seeks to draw in additional resources from international actors that are engaged in the space as well as, very importantly, from the countries and regional institutions in which we are investing. So, so far, every dollar of grant financing has leveraged $7 in additional financing, and we have a portfolio now of seven and a half billion dollars across 128 countries. Very proud to be supporting Philippines with the Resilient Philippines Project. We have an excellent project in Cabo Verde as well. Just mentioning these because you're here, but also, you know, we have some number of projects in the Caribbean. in Latin America, in South Asia, in Africa. 50% of our portfolio actually is in Africa. And we recognize that preparedness is not just about what happens inside the country, but what happens across. So, you know, point of entry surveillance, testing at points of entry, these are sort of also priorities that we are focused on. including in the current Ebola response. We are heavily engaged in DRC, Uganda, but also in 10 neighboring countries that are all at risk. And so perhaps I just want to emphasize that the financing question is ultimately about connecting the dots. The investment question is about connecting the dots. Financing question is about connecting the dots, moving from global commitments to country priorities, to regional cooperation, to investments that actually build preparedness where people live and where they move. And so, you know, South-South cooperation has been another area, mentioning it because the Jamaican minister spoke quite a lot about that. Today we have six projects that are implemented through regional entities. We have eight multi-country projects in our portfolio, and nearly 30 percent of our portfolio is dedicated to regional and cross-border investments that help countries tackle shared health security risks together. About 30 percent of our portfolio is also in fragile and conflict-affected states, where we're very much focused on areas of migration and very happy to have IOM supporting us in many of those projects. Since, again, the Caribbean and the Philippines have been spoken about earlier, I just wanted to share that in the Caribbean, we have a partnership with the Caribbean Public Health Agency, which is helping countries move from traditional surveillance to real-time disease detection. And Liza Endar, who's the executive director of CARPHA, is much more eloquent about this, but she's always saying how this investment in CARPHA actually helped them a disease-free Cricket World Cup in 2024. And then finally, in the Western Pacific, on top of our investments in the Philippines, we're also about to launch a 12-country project called Data to Action, which covers several countries, 12 countries in the Western Pacific. So let me just stop here. I think the important message I want to leave you with is that pandemic prevention, preparedness and response is integral to building resilient health systems and to building indeed strong and resilient economies, to protecting lives and to protecting economies. And it has to be seen not just in terms of local and national capacity, but really in terms of cross-country and regional capacity building, because ultimately, no one is safe until everyone is safe. Thank you.

Thank you very much for those excellent remarks and also for emphasizing the country-led nature of the Pandemic Fund's work and sharing with us this very interesting perspective in terms of the catalytic nature of the funding, the emphasis on working cross-border, as well as working in fragile and humanitarian So definitely a lot more to do, but very much appreciate the pandemic fund support. I'd just like to flag that given the delay in starting, the secretariat have kindly granted an extra 10 to 15 minutes. So I appreciate your patience and continued interest. I'd like to open the floor now for any remarks or questions and I'm told there is a request from the colleague from IFRC to make some comments or pose a question to our panelists already and for the others who may wish to do so, please simply indicate this by raising your hand. Over to you.

I'm speaking on behalf of IFRC, and I would like to thank governments of Philippines, Jamaica, and IOM Pandemic Fund, WHO for this important event just day before the high-level meeting on PPR. So message from my side is, I mean, very clear. I don't want to repeat that, okay, success of any global commitments that will come tomorrow will be evaluate it, not in the conference room, but in the communities, especially in the places and among those people that formal health systems are not easily reached and mobile communities belong to them. I have two very short key messages. So basically, all the plans, preparedness plans specifically, must be designed with communities, not only for communities. Local knowledge and community feedback should shape the plan, exercise, and response, the measures. Trusted local capacity must be funded before the crisis. Community-based organizations, including the National Red Cross, Red Crescent Society, should have clear roles, places in coordination structures, and predictable resources, not only when the outbreak or pandemic began. If the global commitment do not reach people where they live, move, and seek support, they remain commitments own paper. We stand ready to help turn them into trusted, practical and community-led actions. Thank you very much.

Thank you, IFRC, for those remarks. I see some hands raised here, so may I go to the first row here, please? I allow you gentlemen to decide whose hand went up first, because I saw you at the same time, and then I'll come to you. Please go ahead.

Thank you to all partners for convening this event and for allowing me to make this intervention. Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues. Pandemic prevention is often measured in surveillance, laboratories, vaccines, and therapeutics. These are essential, but an outbreak is ultimately fought in health facilities. And today, 77 countries have fewer than five physician anesthesia providers per 100,000 in population, the minimum density for safe care. An even starker reality, 5 billion people, nearly two thirds of the world's population, lack access to medical oxygen. If a country lacks oxygen, safe anesthesia, infection prevention, emergency referral, and trained surgical teams, it cannot save patients during routine emergencies or the next pandemic. COVID-19 showed us a health system without clinical surge care is a health system that suffocates. Surgery is not tertiary care. It is dual-use clinical readiness, essential for universal health coverage today, indispensable for pandemic response tomorrow. The International Student Surgical Organization, a youth-led member of the G4 Alliance, asks that when you leave this hall, your future PPR declarations and their implementation frameworks, nationally and cross-border, recognize clean, safe surgical care and anesthesia capacity as essential health system infrastructure. We ask five high-level commitments to recognize surgical readiness as dual-use PPR infrastructure, to include clinical readiness as preparedness indicators, To incentivize PPPR financing, including the pandemic fund who we have here today, to cover mobile oxygen, anesthesia, infection prevention, referral and surgical workforce. To support future declarations on universal clean, safe surgical care. And finally, to work with us on surgical readiness integration with member states and organizations. Equity and sustainable financing must reach the operating theater. Let us not only detect outbreaks, let us be ready to treat. Once again, safe surgery and anesthesia are dual-use clinical readiness, essential for universal health care today, indispensable for pandemic response tomorrow. Thank you.

Thank you for those remarks, and thank you also for your enthusiasm and commitment to this work.

I don't know how to do this. Am I on? Okay, thank you, Excellencies, colleagues, and everyone. My name is Colin Haynes from Development Associates Consulting Group, and I'm very happy and thankful for the invite for all the remarks. One thing I would like to add though is I believe that one of our challenges that we have in the developed community is that of institutionalization. And I think that, you know, many times we build a lot of great infrastructure, but then there's a lack of training and education, scientific research, which we see in the pandemic is very important. And then also binding that together with quality assurance or quality assurance measures This is something that I've seen within our own region, the CARICOM region, and I believe that this is something worth for us to look into to be able to, you know, sometimes we do a very good job at doing training and education, but then we're lacking in the research or we're lacking in the quality assurance measure. I think all three come together and make them very unique, very a great experience, a more synchronized experience. And so I believe in context of pandemics, we have to look at our pandemic preparedness or response from an institutional standpoint. I thank you.

Thank you. Please, if you can keep your remark or question brief.

Thank you. There we go. Thank you very much for the opportunity to make some remarks. My name is Dr. Bronwyn King. I'm from Australia. I'm a former oncologist turned public health enthusiast and champion. And I'm the co-founder of an NGO called Air Club. We focus on the issue of healthy indoor air. And pandemic preparedness is a key element of our work. As many people in the room would know, most countries have no healthy indoor air standards. It's a real shock to think like that, but in fact there's only seven countries in the world have enforceable healthy indoor air standards. It's a real gap in our public health frameworks and it's a gap that gets exploited during pandemics because as you know most pandemics involve a pathogen with an airborne route whether it's the main one, moderate one or whatever it's some part of the transmission of the disease is airborne and airborne diseases almost invariably spread indoors yet our indoor environments are not safe and they're not resilient and pandemic ready from that point of view. you. So last year here at the UN General Assembly, we hosted an event where we launched the Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air to really try to raise awareness and create a community around this issue so we can learn from each other and really nudge this issue forwards. I'm very happy to say that as of today, There's 315 signatories to that Global Pledge for Healthy Indoor Air. These include academic institutions, patient groups, advocacy groups, universities, research groups, and aligned industries like the organisations that make air monitors and make air purifiers and so forth, from 57 different countries. This morning we held an event here at UN headquarters on healthy indoor air in schools. Schools really need to be a priority area. Almost no schools, believe it or not, no matter where the country. which country, low, middle income, high income countries, almost no schools have healthy indoor air standards, which is obviously a big concern, but nor do most hospitals or healthcare systems or aged care settings. And this is really something that I would love to engage with the panel today. Has this been an issue discussed? And if not, you know, it would be fantastic to connect with you to bring you into this growing global movement. Thank you.

Thank you very much for raising this important public health issue and every good luck also to your organization. Before I come back to the panel to allow them to make one final remark for each of them, I'll take one last comment or question from the back of the room. Yes, please.

Thank you so much. Okay, hi to everyone. Thank you so much for this opportunity and for this Great panel. My name is Pablo Rodriguez. I'm a physician right now at my school of public health. I'm from Ecuador. And just a quick remark, something that is really important and is not often brought up on this subject is about transparency and the fight against corruption. Because sometimes what happened during the pandemic in Ecuador is really painful. A lot of criminal Yeah, the procedures has been investigated lately around 96 criminal investigations against obviously some people in the government, right? That bought, for example, a cadaver, a box or medical devices at 99,000% more of the original price, right? Like even more than they obviously rising price do they highly demand during the pandemic. But yeah, a lot of bribery, corruption that also takes part. So that is really important to once the funds are designated or granted to the countries in order to work and give to the people and buy the medical devices, the drugs and supplies. Also some mechanism of accountability and transparency that should be demanded from the ones that give the grant, obviously, and obviously also through and made with the civil society in order to obviously get more money to do more stuff to help the people, right, and not lose this money on corruption that was a painful reality that happened across Latin America and the world. Thank you so much.

Thank you for that comment. With that, Colleagues, thank you again for being here. And in conclusion, I'd like to welcome the panelists to maybe in 30 seconds, share a quick reflection, a key takeaway for you in terms of how we can continue to advance this migration, health and mobility piece in PPPR. May I suggest our distinguished colleague from Japan please start us off, and then we'll go down the row.

Thank you so much. Thank you so much for the great intervention from the floor as well. So through these conversations, once again, I realize human mobility should be at the center when we consider the national action plan for the preparedness and the response to health emergencies. Unfortunately, the human can forget tragedy. And also the perspective of a mobile population is relatively easy to forget. So I was convinced this kind of the side event should be held regularly to remind us of the importance of to prepare for the next emergencies together with the concept of the mobilities.

I thank you.

Thank you, Priya.

Thank you, and thank you for the comments from the floor. A lot of food for thought. I would like to just emphasize that the ultimate test is, for us at least, from where I sit, is an operational one. Can a country and its neighbors detect a threat earlier, share information faster, coordinate across borders, and act before an outbreak becomes a crisis? Because, I mean, that's what we want to do. And we know that the investments needed to get all countries to this level, where they can act quickly, where they can prevent an outbreak from becoming a pandemic, the investments needed are a tiny fraction of the cost of not being prepared. Because we all saw that the cost of not being prepared for COVID led to millions of lives being lost, not to mention trillions of dollars of GDP. So I think it's a task that we can achieve as long as there's high-level political commitment that can then be translated into action. So I'm optimistic. And, you know, I think this cannot be done by anyone alone. This requires partnerships of the type that, you know, we have already. And, you know, I would just say, let's keep working, because there really isn't any time to waste. And we don't want another pandemic. So, and we can stop it from happening. Thanks.

Thank you. I'd like to echo the sentiments of the young fellow, spoke to my heart with the terms of surgical care within the context of public health and global health, anesthesia, and so on. I think those issues are extremely important from the point of view of building redundancy within your healthcare system and using your workforce so it's maximum capacity. And if we don't rely on surgical training and anesthesia and these resources, we stand to suffer from this pandemic severely. Secondly, it's really hard, preparedness is really hard, because you're preparing for something that you really don't know when it's going to happen. It's very easy to to lay your guards down. So one of the things that we're focusing on from a diaspora standpoint is also building that same redundancy in terms of chronic disease. So those same resources can be easily adapted. For instance, we do weekly tumor board conversations and discussions with colleagues across the diaspora. That allows that communication to be fluid and constant and permanent and maintaining those connections alive and all the time. And that I think is key to be allowing us to respond when there is an emergency. Thank you.

Good afternoon again. I would like to say thank you for having this opportunity to co-sponsor this event. Now, listening from the interventions from the floor, the surge capacity, the air quality, and the continuity of health services, these are really the components and some of the challenges that we need to address in our national action plan, as well as our collaborations at the regional level and then at the global level. Now, I'm also reflecting as to really the role also of our partners, especially in the pandemic fund. Yes, especially in the three core capacities, how surveillance, not only in human, but also in animals, including now the wildlife. And that's also one of our priorities back in the country that we could also share. among our ASEAN counterpart and globally. So we have this part of the preparedness. A second is the laboratory capacity. Now, learning from COVID, there were really lots of difficulty in testings and all of those necessary expanding the capacity of the country. So this is also what we need to build. And also to collaborate with our ah international partners. And yes as we are reflected and hearing also from the interventions that right now our country really is an average yearly average for the past ah ten years. Around 40 thousands of nurses are going out from the country and this is really a huge movement of our people and estimated to have around in 2024, 2.4 million outgoing from the country to work as an overseas workers, seafarers and everything. So this conversation now and this event is a very important event for us really to remain and highly committed to working with IOM, governments, and international organizations such as WHO and other partners to put these challenges be workable and be addressed globally and then internationally and at the national level that we could also be working closely with all of you. So thank you for this opportunity and to share also the best practices that we have back in our country.

Thank you very much, and I hope that this can be the start of new conversations and new networks and partnerships as well. So let's indeed look ahead with promise while we continue to strengthen preparedness, readiness and response for and with migrants. Thank you very much and wish you a good rest of your afternoon.