G20 pledges continued fight against Cvid-19

KABUL (Pajhwok): The Group of 20 (G20) countries on Sunday pledged to continue fighting against the coronavirus pandemic in an inter-connected world with shared challenges.

“The G20 is committed to spare no effort to overcome the pandemic. The G20 leaders established a forward-looking agenda under the Saudi Presidency,” a statement from the group said.

They claimed working collectively on their agenda during the pandemic, its toll on humanity, restoring growth and recovery, accelerating development, delivery of vaccines, diagnostics and treatments.

The G20 countries pledged efforts for addressing the immediate challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuring the world was better prepared to deal with future health crises by enhancing pandemic preparedness and response.

This week, the forum leaders are meeting for the second time under the Saudi presidency to address the most pressing challenges of their times, with the vision to take further steps to overcome the pandemic.

The pandemic has revealed the deep and pervasive weaknesses in health systems worldwide and vulnerability in the capacity to prevent, detect and respond to pandemic threats.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, the G20 claimed having showcased leadership to coordinate responses and work as a united front to protect lives’ and livelihoods.

The leaders gathered in an extraordinary virtual Leaders’ Summit, where they agreed to take concrete actions to support the development and distribution of needed diagnostic tools, therapeutics and vaccines.

They agreed to enhance health systems, pledging over $21bn at the outset of the crisis to support funding for global health capacities.

On a global scale, the members have injected over $11 trillion so far to safeguard the economy and protect livelihoods, secure the continuity of businesses and protect the most vulnerable segments of the population.

nh/mud