With a drop in government spending on preparedness and woefully inadequate donor pledges, how can the ambitious new commitments envisioned for a WHO Pandemic Accord ever be financed? This second issue of Governing Pandemics Snapshot, looks at this conundrum and possible solutions, including creative forms of debt relief for low-income nations.

Countries around the world have set a deadline of next May to produce a final draft of a global treaty on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response — a major step in efforts to strengthen the global architecture around health security.

The secretary-general of the United Nations is pressing for major changes in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Antonio Guterres says the International Monetary Fund has benefited rich countries instead of poor ones. And he describes the IMF and World Bank ‘s response to the Covid-19 pandemic as a “glaring failure” that left dozens of countries deeply indebted.