President von der Leyen speaks in support of the Global Citizen campaign ‘A Recovery Plan for the World'

On 23 February, President Ursula von der Leyen participated in the launch event of the Global Citizen campaign ‘A Recovery Plan for the World'. During her speech, the President highlighted the work that has been done over the last year together with international partners, while at the same time stressing that there is still a long road ahead: “Together, we achieved a lot. We created the ACT-Accelerator, and COVAX – the global facility to deliver affordable and equitable vaccines to the world. But let us be frank, much more is needed. More funding is needed. That is why as Team Europe we increased our contribution to COVAX last week bringing it to around €2.2 billion. And vaccine doses are needed now.”

The president also expressed support for President Macron's proposal “to donate vaccine doses that are necessary to vaccinate healthcare workers in Africa. Vaccines must reach all corners of the planet, as soon as possible.” And finally, President von der Leyen underlined the importance of the Global Health Summit that she will co-host in May with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi: “It will be a moment to reflect on the lessons learned, but also to agree on a common preparedness blueprint, so that the world is never again caught off-guard. All must weigh in: governments and international organisations, scientists, businesses and civil society, philanthropic foundations and private citizens. Everyone needs to contribute.”

The full speech of President von der Leyen is available here and the video can be watched again here.

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