Today, President Biden convened heads of state and leaders from international organizations, the private sector, philanthropies, non-government organizations, and other partners for the Global COVID-19 Summit: Ending the Pandemic and Building Back Better, a virtual summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly.
The President called on leaders to elevate global ambition to end the COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 and to build back better global health security to prevent and prepare for future pandemics. As emerging variants have set back global response efforts, President Biden challenged the world to advance this agenda with new, focused urgency and to cooperate to rapidly advance our collective response to this crisis to secure our future.
Conquering COVID-19: Measuring Progress, Collective Action, Common Targets
Throughout the Summit, world leaders answered the President's call and embraced a set of ambitious global targets across four themes:
- Vaccinate the World by enhancing equitable access to vaccines and getting shots in arms;
- Save Lives Now by solving the oxygen crisis and making tests, therapeutics, and personal protective equipment (PPE) widely available;
- Build Back Better by preparing in all countries, establishing a sustainable health security financing mechanism, and demonstrating political leadership for emerging threats to prepare for and prevent future pandemics; and
- Calling the World to Account by aligning around common global targets, tracking progress, and supporting one another in fulfilling our commitments.
