Belgium commits support for WHO after the US withdraws from the UN agency

01 Juin 2020

Kigali, Rwanda, June 1 (Infosplusgabon) -  A few days after the U.S. announcement to end “relationship with the World Health Organization (WHO)”, Belgian authorities have reaffirmed their continued support for the UN agency, said an official statement obtained in Kigali on Monday.

The statement, issued by the Embassy of Belgium in Kigali, said that in the midst of the unseen Covid-19 pandemic, "our country advocates supporting the organization as much as possible".

The WHO plays a crucial role in coordinating the international response to the pandemic, it emphasised, quoting a resolution by Belgian authorities including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Development Cooperation Alexander De Croo, Minister of Foreign Affairs Philippe Goffin and Minister of Health Maggie De Block

The Belgian Government is convinced that the WHO tries to prevent the further spread of the coronavirus by, among other things, distributing medical material, deploying rapid response teams and advising and informing the general public.

In addition, the WHO also contributes to the search for adequate treatment and vaccination. The organization works on a scientific basis and has called for recommendations of specialists from all over the world.

When the WHO declared the pandemic in late January, hardly anyone could assess the scope of the coronavirus. A critical review of what could have been done better was necessary, but now is not the time to do so, the statement pointed out.

"Once the crisis is over, we can draw lessons in an objective and well-informed manner and make proposals to improve our approach in the future, both in terms of actions undertaken by the WHO and member states.

"Belgium supports the already ongoing WHO efforts to further improve their functioning. Together with our EU partners, our country will consider how it can further support these efforts in the future and make the organization even more effective in view of a possible new crisis," the statement said

The WHO primarily assists the most vulnerable countries in their Covid-19 response. They need this help now more than ever in the fight against this virus which knows no frontiers.

Through this commitment, the statement said that the Belgian Government has granted an extra contribution of 2 million euros and it is exploring the possibility of an  additional contribution of euros 2 million.

In addition, according to the same statement, Belgium gave 5 million euros to CEPI for the development of a vaccine.

Maintaining that the Covid-19 pandemic has once again shown that a virus outbreak can affect anyone, it said, "global health is therefore a shared responsibility in which each member state must play its role."

A successful response to a global pandemic depends on interconnected global systems and networks of scientific expertise, medical supply, free trade, innovation and production, the statement added.

The United States was the biggest overall donor to the Geneva-based WHO, contributing more than $400m in 2019, roughly 15 percent of its budget.

In April this year, US President Donald Trump instructed his administration to temporarily halt funding to the organization over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

FIN/ INFOSPLUSGABON/ART/GABON2020

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