President von der Leyen joins the Global Citizen campaign to end COVID-19 and kick start a global recovery

Source: European Commission (EC) i, published on Tuesday, February 23 2021.

“We have to fight the pandemic right now, but we also have to address its broader impact on the most vulnerable and tackle the root causes,” said Ursula von der Leyen i, President of the European Commission i, as she supported today the launch of the campaign ‘A Recovery Plan for the World'. The campaign is run by Global Citizen in an effort to end COVID-19 and kick start a global recovery.

Von der Leyen reflected on the successes achieved together with the WHO i and Global Citizen last year. Back then a joint global effort resulted in more than €16 billion of pledges from donors worldwide, and the ACT-Accelerator and the COVAX facility were created.

“Let us overcome the pandemic with a global vaccination campaign. Let us stop the hunger crisis. Bring children back to their classrooms. Fight rising inequalities. And engage in a green recovery,” von der Leyen said, stressing that vaccines must reach all corners of the planet as soon as possible.

She also spoke about the upcoming World Health Summit in May 2021, which the European Commission will co-host together with the Italian Presidency of the G20 i, saying this would be a moment ‘to agree on a common preparedness blueprint, so that the world is never again caught off-guard'. She called upon everyone to weigh in - governments and international organisations, scientists, businesses and civil society, philanthropic foundations and private citizens.