This year's United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) theme is "Rebuilding trust and reigniting global solidarity: Accelerating action on the 2030 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals towards peace, prosperity, progress and sustainability for all." This is the 78th session and marks a milestone in the journey to achieve the SDGs as it marks the halfway point to the deadline of the goals.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, there was not much global solidarity. We saw countries close borders, resist IP waivers for COVID-19 vaccines, and vaccine hoarding. In fact, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination stated that the refusal to waive IP rights for the COVID-19 vaccine violates human rights. So truthfully, where are we with global solidarity and how do we ensure compliance with treaties and agreements?
While the UNGA is a time to meet for global solidarity, particularly for global health threats and future pandemic preparedness it is vital that countries have the tools to ensure they are ready for any disease outbreak. Capacity building and local manufacturing are important to ensure stable supply of equipment such as diagnostic tests, personal protective equipment, and vaccinations among others. It is essential to focus on health systems to ensure countries continue building stronger health systems to prepare them for any health threat. There have been calls to strengthen regional institutions as with treaties state compliance is hard to enforce due to power imbalances.
This year's UNGA has 3 high-level meetings on topics of global health concern. On September 20, leaders will convene at the UN High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPPR). This meeting aims to provide a platform for Member States to discuss how to prevent and prepare for pandemics. On September 21, leaders will convene at the High-Level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage. In this meeting, leaders will discuss how to accelerate progress to achieve health for all. This is a direct response to SDG target 3.8 which is to "[a]chieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all." On September 22, leaders will convene at the High-Level Meeting on the fight against tuberculosis (TB). This will assess progress made towards ending TB in 2030 and also progress on the 2018 political declaration at the first UNGA high-level meeting on TB.
Given the focus on SDG 3, below are some events to attend online or in person. And if you can't attend, be active on your social media feeds to remain engaged in the conversations and follow hashtags such as #UNGA78. If you want to follow along UNGA 78 events live, visit the UN Web TV.
September 18, 2023
7:30 am - 8:30 am ET: Renewing the Promise for Women, Children and Adolescents. Register here to watch the event recording.
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm ET: Women in Global Health Meet and Greet. Register here (in-person)
6:00 pm - 9:00 pm ET: African Union, Africa CDC, AUDA-NEPAD, AfCFTA, Path: Advancing PPPR: A focus on local manufacture of health products. Register here (in-person and online attendance)
September 19, 2023
9:00 am - 10 am ET: Devex, MSD for Mothers and WHO's Country Connector on Private Sector in Health: All In: Sustainable Approaches to Improve Maternal Health and Achieve UHC through strategic private sector collaborations. Register here for online attendance
10:00 am - 12:00 pm ET: Friends of the Global Fund Europe, Friends of the Global Fund, Japan (FGFJ), Friends of the Global Fight (US) and Fund of the Global Fund: Inclusive Health Systems: Key to PPR, UHC, and TB Response. Register here (in-person and online event)
11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET: Devex and AstraZeneca: How improving kidney health can transform health systems for all. Register here for online attendance
4:30 pm - 6:00 pm ET: UNGA’s gender equity agenda: a pivotal year for the health workforce. Register here (this event is full but you can still engage via social media)
11:30 am - 1:00 pm ET: Leaving Some Behind? Addressing Challenges to Gender and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights in Universal Health Coverage. Register here (in-person)
September 20, 2023
11:00 am - 12:00 pm ET: Devex and GSK: Unlocking the power of prevention: Delivering global health impact for all through partnerships. Register here for online attendance
September 21, 2023
8:00 am ET: Path: Building Back Better: A Gender-Responsive Approach to Pandemic Preventions, Preparedness, Response and Recovery. Register here
September 22, 2023
1:45 pm - 3:00 pm ET: Health Systems Global and the Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research and co-sponsored by the governments of Japan and Norway. Fast-tracking global health goals through health policy and systems research. Register here (in-person and online)
For more global health events, check the UNGA Guide 2023. If you are in New York City or attending events online, these are great opportunities to be engaged in the field and connect with others!