Australia has pledged $50 million (US$33.4 million) to the new Pandemic Fund, a new global fund launched by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Bali on Nov. 13.
The Pandemic Fund, hosted by the World Bank, is the result of global lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic, designed to improve preparedness capabilities for future pandemic threats in developing countries.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed Indonesia’s leadership in establishing the fund.
“There is a clear consensus that the world needs to be better prepared to respond to future events—shared global finance is a big part of that,” he said.
Twenty-four donors have already committed a total of US$1.4 billion to the fund. Widodo encouraged all donors to give additional support to other global health initiatives, such as establishing a health emergency coordination platform….