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My brother Gordon, distinguished colleagues,

I have two minutes, and three key points to make.

First, maximizing sustainable development depends on investments in human capital, especially in education and health.

Healthy kids are more likely to reach education milestones, and educated kids are more likely to be healthy, and more able to support themselves, their families and their country.

Second, maximizing investments in human capital depends on innovative financing, both global and domestic.

With high levels of debt servicing, government expenditures on education and health are constrained, which in turn constrains employing the teachers we need, and the health workers we need, to achieve the SDGs on health and education.

WHO fully supports the proposals in today’s outcomes document for scaling innovative finance in education.

And third, maximising the impact of innovative financing depends on cross-sectoral collaboration.

Given the inextricable links between health and education, innovative financing for education pays dividends for health, and vice versa.

So it’s essential that our two sectors share knowledge and experience to jointly mobilise financing, remove barriers, and catalyse investments for maximum impact.

Maximizing sustainable development depends on investments in human capital.

Maximizing investments in human capital depends on innovative financing, both global and domestic.

And maximising the impact of innovative financing depends on cross-sectoral collaboration.

WHO looks forward to strengthening our collaboration with GEF members to mobilise innovative financing for health for all, and education for all.

Finally, my thanks and appreciation to my friend Gordon for his leadership, he actually bridges the two as both UN Special Envoy for Global Education, and WHO Ambassador for Global Health Financing. So that makes him Ambassador for Human Capital.

Source

https://www.who.int/director-general/speeches/detail/who-director-general-s-remarks-at-the-global-education-forum-world-bank-spring-meetings-19-april-2024