?Remarks by H.E. Annalena Baerbock
President of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly
at the Interactive Multi-Stakeholders Hearing as part of the Preparatory Process for the High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response
Tuesday, 9 June 2026
Trusteeship Council, Ä¢¹½ÊÓƵHQ, New York
(As Delivered by VP, H.E. Mutryce Williams, Permanent Representative of Saint Kitts and Nevis)
Your Excellency Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of the World Health Organization,
Your Excellency Joy Phumaphi, Co-Chair of the Global Preparedness Monitoring Board,
Your Excellency Karoli Martin Ngoga, Permanent Representative of Rwanda, and Your Excellency Paruyr Hovhannisyan, Permanent Representative of Armenia, Co-Facilitators of this process,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
The recent Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the cases of the Andes hantavirus aboard a cruise ship, have reminded us why pandemic prevention, preparedness and response matter so deeply.
These outbreaks caused widespread public concern, while illustrating a wider reality: emerging and re-emerging pathogens remain a persistent and serious global challenge.
Unfortunately, that challenge is growing faster than our investment in preparedness, as reports suggest.
Outbreaks are becoming more frequent, more complex and harder to contain, while the systems designed to manage them are under exponential strain.
That is a trajectory we must reverse.
Our responses need to be faster, more coordinated, and more equitable.
This requires concerted efforts across three areas, all of which depend on the ?participation of you, key stakeholders.
First, it is imperative that we prioritise communities with limited access to surveillance, diagnostics and countermeasures, because those most exposed to outbreaks are often those least equipped to detect, contain and respond to them.
In this regard, boosting support for civil society groups, and regional and local health-care networks, is critical.
For we cannot abandon those on the front lines of new outbreaks to manage alone, especially when each local outbreak carries the risk of becoming a wider global threat.
Second, it is essential that we strengthen the sharing of data and information.
These are among the most important tools in pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
From early detection to rapid response, from data sharing to collaborative surveillance, we must use every tool available to strengthen the global system before the next emergency.
Third, our efforts must be globally coordinated.
As the COVID-19 pandemic illustrated so starkly, viruses do not respect borders. No country, regardless of its capacity, can contain a pandemic alone.
Thus, multilateralism remains our first line of defence.
Excellencies,
We should welcome recent progress, including the adoption of the World Health Organization Pandemic Agreement in 2025, which reflects a shared commitment to collective action.
The final mile now lies in securing agreement on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex and bringing the Agreement into force.
This would mark a critical step towards a fairer, more predictable and more equitable global response architecture.
But agreements alone are not enough.
Effective pandemic governance depends on empowered and protected health-care workforces, equitable access to medical countermeasures, interoperable global surveillance systems and strong community engagement built on trust.
Recent responses, including to Ebola, have shown what coordinated action can achieve.
During the 2024 to 2025 outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rapid collaboration among the World Health Organization, national authorities, civil society and humanitarian partners enabled the deployment of more than 100 experts, the establishment of treatment centres within days, and the vaccination of tens of thousands of people, helping contain transmission swiftly.
This is both multilateralism and multistakeholder engagement in action, built on the strength of many actors.
Governments bring authority and responsibility. Civil society organisations bring community reach and trust. Academia brings research and evidence. Frontline responders bring practical expertise. The private sector brings innovation, logistics and scale.
As we prepare for the High Level Meeting, this kind of multistakeholder engagement must remain at the centre of our work. Pandemic resilience cannot be delivered by any single actor. It must be built across institutions, sectors and communities before the next emergency arrives.
Excellencies,
Decades of experience, most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic, have taught us that outbreaks thrive where systems are weak, where inequalities are wide, and where trust has eroded.
They have also taught us that preparedness costs far less than crisis response. Investments in surveillance, health workers, diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics and community engagement are investments in stability, development and human security.
We therefore have a clear responsibility: to sustain political commitment, close gaps that leave communities exposed, and strengthen the multilateral cooperation on which all countries depend.
Let these priorities guide us as we move towards the High-Level Meeting.
Future outbreaks will come. Whether they become global crises will depend on the choices we make now.
Let us not delude ourselves into thinking this cannot happen again, nor force ourselves to relearn the hard lessons.
Let us instead apply those lessons where they matter most: in saving lives, preventing pandemics, and preparing before they occur.
Watch Full Broadcast
Event entitled “Interactive multi-stakeholder hearing as part of the preparatory process for the high-level meeting on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response” (co-organized by the Office of the President of the General Assembly and the World Health Organization (WHO))