Policy Updates

On June 29, 2023, the GFF announced that the Netherlands, Germany, Ivory Coast, and World Bank are co-hosting the ‘Deliver the Future’ campaign to raise US$800 million by the end of 2023 to invest in the health and rights of women, children, and adolescents in LICs.

According to the GFF more than 60 countries, including 35 out of 36 partner countries, are off track to meet the SDG health targets for maternal, newborn, and stillborn mortality by 2030, which could cost almost 8 million lives.

Donors have donated US$2 billion since 2015, which has allowed the GFF to unlock US$32 billion for women, children, and adolescent health. For example the GFF have provided more than 500 million women with access to modern family planning, and ensured 103 million women delivered their babies safely.

The additional investment of US$800 million was projected to help the organization reach another 250 million women, children, and adolescents.

At the Paris Summit for a New Global Financing Pact, the EU announced several pledges and partnerships to support partner countries in adapting to climate change.

In partnership with France, Germany, the UK, and Canada, the EU launched a new Just Energy Transition Partnership with Senegal. With the help of international development banks and other partners, the group aimed to mobilize EUR2.5 billion (US$2.7 billion) to diversify Senegal's power supply and increase domestic access to renewable energy.

The EU, via the Team Europe initative also provided an additional EUR300 million (US$328 million) to Rwanda's Resilience and Sustainability Facility. Building on existing commitments of US$319 million made through the IMF, the funding included commitments from the EIB, AFD, IDC, and other partners. The funding was allocated to projects to bolster the capacity to author and enact policy changes to respond to climate change.

Additionally, the EIB announced an EUR10 million (US$11 million) loan to Barbados for healthcare resilience. The pledge also included a commitment to improve partnership on WASH, renewable energy, and climate change.

On May 24, 2023, Civil Society 7 released its review of the May 2023 G7 Hiroshima Summit.

The report looked at six topics, including the nuclear disarmament, climate and environmental justice, the transition to a fair economy, global health, humanitarian aid and conflict, and a resilient and open society, and presented the following findings:

• Nuclear Disarmament: The G7 summit did not focus on nuclear disarmament, and its leaders did not show any commitment to starting time-bound negotiations. While condemning Russia’s nuclear threats, they justified their own nuclear weapons as being for defense and deterrence;
• Climate and Environmental Justice: The G7 summit acknowledged the need to strengthen adaptation measures, enhance resilience support for vulnerable groups, and increase support to the most vulnerable countries for avoiding, minimizing, and addressing losses and damages. It emphasized the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, including non-CO2 gases, and reaffirmed commitment to global methane reduction efforts. However, the report argued that the G7’s approach to climate change, in particular its descriptions of fossil fuels, is far from ideal;
• Transition to a Fair Economy: The G7 summit prioritized “economic security” from its perspective rather than focusing on resolving challenges faced by partner countries. It aimed to decouple supply chains from China, but such decoupling could impose additional burdens on developing countries. The summit lacked strong commitments regarding debt restructuring, international negotiations, and debt cancellation. It also weakened the organization's stance on business and human rights;
• Global Health: The G7 summit fell short of expectations due to time constraints and limitations imposed by Japan. It failed to address intellectual property rights as a key factor in addressing the pandemic and ensuring equitable access to therapeutics. The summit lacked specific commitments, and its focus was more on ordering and reaffirming previous pledges rather than providing the required funding and technological contributions;
• Humanitarian Aid and Conflict: The G7 summit's commitment of US$21 billion in support, with particular focus on addressing food crises and prioritizing education, was welcomed. However, apart from this financial commitment, the summit lacked clear and concrete commitments. It failed to mention the importance of strengthening local leadership and access to humanitarian aid and protection; and
• Resilient and Open Society: The G7 summit did not address the concept of an open society or democracy in its statements. It neglected to discuss civic space and shrinking civil society, and its focus on democracy mainly revolved around countering information warfare. The summit did not address issues like digital space safety, fake news, freedom of expression, or topics covered in previous G7 meetings. The treatment of non-regular immigrants and their dire situations was a significant problem. The summit lacked references to freedom of expression and did not improve citizen participation or support for civil society organizations.

C7 aims to achieve a society envisioned by the SDGs that leaves no one behind, and its criticism of the G7 Hiroshima Summit was presented as a means of holding leaders to account for their role in building a better world.

The leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) assembled in Hiroshima from May 19-21, 2023 to discuss a wide range of global issues requiring immediate and long-term attention.

On May 20, 2023, the leaders released a communiqué outlining their commitments to the international community. Among other issues, the communiqué focused on infrastructure, humanitarian crises, climate change, global health, and gender.

Key commitments included:

• Mobilizing up to US$600 billion by 2027 for the G7 Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment, also known as PGII;
• Investing US$21 billion to address worsening humanitarian crises including the global food crises;
• Pledges to mobilize US$100 billion in climate financing annually from 2020 to 2025 for mitigation actions and transparency on implementation;
• Coordinating efforts to enhance governance for health emergencies, promote sustainable health financing, launch the Pandemic Fund, and support LICs and MICs in implementing health regulations; and
• Strengthening gender equality and the rights of women, girls, and LGBTQ+ people through effective, multi-sectorial policies.

The G7 Hiroshima Summit 2023 was held during a tense period for both Europe and Asia. The leaders took a strong stance against further aggression and reconfirmed their commitment to promoting sustainable ODA and international collaboration.

On May 14, 2023, the G7 Health Ministers released the G7 Global Plan for UHC Action Agenda.

The plan was designed to support countries in achieving UHC worldwide and serve as a declaration of shared understanding on enhanced finance-health coordination and pandemic PPR financing.

The G7 Global Plan for UHC Action Agenda addressed eight action areas outlining the G7’s role in furthering UHC, including:

• Championing political leadership;
• Equitable implementation;
• Strengthening relevant legal frameworks;
• Supporting health and care workforces;
• Effective investments in public resources;
• Inclusive multi-stakeholder collaboration;
• Gender equality in health; and
• Connecting UHC and health security.

Meanwhile, the G7 has also recognized the need for enhanced finance-health coordination and global health architecture. Already, there have been efforts to strengthen global health architecture and pandemic PPR with the establishment of ACT-A, the G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force, and the Pandemic Fund.

The Health Ministers recognized that there needs to be greater coordination between finance and health, drawing in stakeholders at the national and international levels. Moreover, they stressed the importance of domestic resource mobilization during emergencies, while maintaining strong multilateral mechanisms and financing instruments for pandemic responses and surge financing. Accordingly, the Health Ministers stated that G7 will work closely with the G20 Joint Finance-Health Task Force and other partners to achieve these goals.

On April 20, 2023, the WHO opened a new mRNA Hub in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Hub was developed in collaboration with 15 companies worldwide to build up production capacities in LICs and MICs in Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

The BMZ and BMG supported the Hub with EUR5.3 million (US$5.7 million), for the analysis of intellectual property rights, markets, and sustainable business models of partner companies, as well as in the financing of preclinical studies.

In addition, Germany supported South Africa in improving the framework conditions for the extension of vaccine production, including training of professionals, the promotion of knowledge and technology transfer, and the strengthening of regulatory bodies.

On April 4, 2023, the Hiroshima G7 Global Health Task Force submitted its recommendations for the upcoming G7 summit to the Japanese government.

The Task Force identified two global health challenges that G7 leaders must urgently address: advancing the resilience of health systems and enhancing global solidarity.

To enhance resilience to public health emergencies, the Task Force recommended that G7 members and global health agencies coordinate their external assistance, guided by common principles such as financial sustainability. The report noted that progress in country-led efforts to achieve UHC requires addressing non-communicable diseases and promoting the harmonization of evaluation processes and accountability mechanisms.

To strengthen resilience to public health threats, the Task Force recommended scaling up long-term investments in R&D focusing on vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics. The report also prioritized diversification and capacity expansion in manufacturing and procurement of medical countermeasures, along with voluntary licensing and technology transfer.

The Task Force also recommended that the G7 promote a multilayered approach to global health governance, including financing, to ensure global solidarity. The report urged the G7 to push for agreement on norms for PPR in all discussions of the WHO accord on PPR and in any amendment of the International Health Regulations. It also called for innovative ways to secure sustainable funding for PPR, including surge financing through close collaboration with the G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force.

Additionally, the Task Force recommended strengthening regional hubs to advance research, surveillance, and control of endemic and emerging infectious diseases, and sustaining global commitment to UHC and health security.

During the UN Water Conference in New York from March 22-24, 2023, Germany and the Netherlands launched the Urban Water Calatlyst Initiative to mobilize private and public investment in climate-resilient water systems.

The initiative will assist urban water and wastewater operators in improving infrastructure and access to safe drinking water and sanitation in growing cities in LMICs. Germany provided start-up funding of EUR32 million (US$34 million); the Netherlands pledged EUR10 million (US$11 million).

On February 2, 2023, German Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach announced that Germany will contribute €130 million (US$141 million) to the WHO in 2023.

Lauterbach made the pledge while meeting with WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Geneva on the sidelines of the WHO executive board meeting.

Lauterbach also highlighted the need to financially strengthen the WHO for it to better fulfill its role as the central actor in global health and for the world to be better prepared for future pandemics.

Germany is currently the second largest sovereign donor to the WHO after the US. During the 2020-2021 biennium, Germany was the largest sovereign donor to the WHO.

On January 24, 2023, the BMZ published its new ‘Shaping the future together with Africa’ strategy.

The plan forms the conceptual umbrella and strategic framework of the BMZ’s Africa policy and is an update of the previous government’s ‘Marshall Plan with Africa’.

The strategy has three overarching goals:

1. To accompany the development goals set by the AU and its member states with structural policy approaches,
2. To work together with African partners on the global transformation toward a decent and secure life for all in an intact environment, and
3. To cooperate visibly and in solidarity with African countries in times of crisis.
   In addition, the BMZ aims at linking bilateral programs and multilateral initiatives, building and deepening strategic alliances (with AU, between the AfDB and World Bank), and supporting the development of innovative financing instruments.
   
   The updated strategy includes a strengthened focus on health and pandemic prevention and a commitment to feminist development policy and gender equality, both represented as one of six thematic priorities. The four remaining priorities include 1) Sustainable economic development, employment, and prosperity, 2) Overcoming poverty and hunger and building social security, 3) Rule of law, democracy, human rights, and good governance, and 4) Peace and security.
   
   The BMZ’s African partner countries currently include 33 African countries.