Honourable President Nour Abu Ghosh,
Honourable Members of Parliament,
Dear colleagues and friends,
It is an honour to join you today.
I thank the IPU and the Forum of Young Parliamentarians for your important work in strengthening the voice of young people in parliaments and decision-making, at both national and global levels.
That commitment extends to health.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, young MPs at the Forum’s Seventh Global Conference called for greater attention and resources for youth mental health, for youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, and for youth-led efforts to counter health misinformation.
Through the IPU’s Empowerment Series, young parliamentarians have deepened their knowledge of the health of women, children and adolescents, of mental health, and of nutrition.
The Forum’s leaders have also championed parliamentary action on adolescent well-being.
This work builds on the longstanding partnership between WHO and the IPU, working together to strengthen the role of parliamentarians in advancing health for all.
And it matters, because the decisions made in parliaments today will shape the health and well-being of young people for decades to come.
From mental health and noncommunicable diseases to climate change, the use of new technologies, health emergencies and the future of our health systems.
Young people therefore need more than a seat in the room. They need a meaningful role in shaping these decisions.
That is why we established the WHO Youth Council: to bring the perspectives and ideas of young people directly into our work.
The Council advises me and our other senior leaders, helps shape our policies and programmes, and challenges us to think differently.
Through our Youth Delegate Programme, we are also encouraging more Member States to include young people in their official delegations.
As a former parliamentarian myself, I know the unique power parliaments have to turn ambition into action:
Through the laws you pass, the budgets you approve, your oversight of governments, and your representation of the people you serve.
That leadership is more important than ever.
We live in an increasingly fragmented world, while health systems face growing needs, shrinking fiscal space and major reductions in development assistance.
For too long, health has been treated simply as a cost.
But health is an investment – in productive populations, stronger economies, more resilient societies and our shared future.
So today, I leave you with four requests.
First, make health a political priority.
Health cannot be the responsibility of ministries of health alone. Decisions on finance, education, employment, climate and social protection all have profound consequences for health.
Second, keep making the voices of young people count.
Create meaningful and lasting opportunities for young people to shape the policies that affect their lives and their future.
Third, help build a new model for sustainable health financing.
The world cannot continue relying on financing models in which essential health services depend heavily on unpredictable external assistance.
Recent reductions in development financing have shown how vulnerable this model can be.
We need to use this moment to create new opportunities:
Strengthening domestic resources; expanding fiscal space for health; improving efficiency and accountability; and using tools such as health taxes to prevent disease while generating revenue.
External financing will remain important, but it should increasingly help countries build stronger national systems and greater self-reliance, rather than perpetuating dependency.
Fourth, help turn the WHO Pandemic Agreement into action.
Last year, WHO Member States adopted the Agreement – a historic commitment to make the world better prepared for future pandemics and more equitable in responding to them.
Work is continuing on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex.
As countries move towards signature, ratification and implementation, parliamentarians will be essential.
The generation represented in this room will live with the consequences of the decisions we take today.
You have an opportunity to help build health systems that are stronger, more equitable and less dependent; institutions that listen to young people.
We are proud of our partnership with the IPU and look forward to formalizing and strengthening our collaboration with the Forum of Young Parliamentarians.
Thank you.