Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has lauded the Accra Reset Initiative championed by President John Dramani Mahama, describing it as a decisive shift from external dependence to local independence in health governance.
Speaking at the Accra Reset Conference on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly in New York on Monday, (September 21), Mr Brown said the Reset represented a break from donor-driven systems that denied the Global South control over its own health destiny.
"For years, trying to solve these problems. Country-born healthcare systems. Country-led healthcare systems. Local initiatives led by local people making local decisions. Never again, external dependence but independence. Never again, external control but local control. Never again, manufacturers manufacturing vaccines deny the Global South," he said.
Caution
Mr Brown warned that the 2020s were being defined by multiple crises including atrocities in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, the erosion of the rules-based order, unregulated artificial intelligence, nuclear proliferation, and falling humanitarian aid at a time of rising need.
"If the 2020s are to be defined by the end of a rules-based order and the beginning of a non-trade power-based order, if the 2020s are to be defined by AI out of control, nuclear weapons out of control, humanitarian aid falling at a time when the need is rising, then we must do things differently," he said.
He said the world must lay down new principles of cooperation to guide future engagement.
Mr Brown disclosed that 100 global leaders had signed a declaration calling on countries to agree on principles of cooperation, backed by a poll of 100,000 people in 34 countries conducted over two years, which asserted that cooperation and persuasion, is the way forward and not coercion.
Public financing
For his part, the UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guiteres in a statement delivered on his behalf by his deputy, Amina J. Mohammed, also affirmed that public finance must remain at the centre of efforts to reform the global health architecture and sustain gains beyond 2030.
The UN Secretary General said while discussions about the post-2030 agenda had begun, the world still had four years to deliver on promises made in 2015.
"In July, we adopted the roadmap to 2030. It's important because most are talking about beyond 2030. We still have four years to go. And many different ways of trying to get to the promises we made in 2015 still exist," she said.
She said the release of the principal report by the Panel on Global Health Architecture was critical, stressing that Spain had joined as a founding Northern Co-Steward and that work was advancing on stronger negotiating capacity.
Mr Guiteres affirmed that, economies must grow to enable inclusive service delivery for health and education, adding that the international financial architecture must create opportunities for investments to flow to countries.
The Secretary-General said Africa already had institutions, plans and frameworks in the African Union, Africa CDC and the African Medicines Agency, and stressed that the UN system itself must be more responsive and coherent.
He stressed the need for accountability, saying there must be a clear division of labour.
"When we leave this room, someone has to know what they're responsible for. It's mostly a division of labour. I think we know where most of that lies when it comes to responsibility of governments. But there's also citizens, too, and their participation," she said.
Mr Guiteres said Africa should not have to choose between giving its young people opportunities and retaining skills and resources, and called for intergenerational conversations on opportunities presented by Artificial Intelligence with necessary safeguards and checks and balances.
Changing world
Also, the Former President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo, called for contemporary shift in the global south initiatives to meet the new changed.
He stressed that Africa must adapt its strategies to match the new reality, adding that, the world was no longer the same as when the United Nations and other multilateral institutions were established.
"What we have to do up to now is changing because we have a different world today compared to the world we had from the establishment of UN, United Nations, military, other things, the whole world," he said.
He likened the changing global context to a proverb, saying development approaches must evolve.
"If the drum beat is changing, the dancing steps must also change. The drum beat is changing as far as development, finance, infrastructure for development in global south, and our dancing steps must change," he stated.
Former President Obasanjo said the Accra Reset was that new dancing step to respond to the changing drumbeat of global development, finance and infrastructure.
He paid tribute to allies who supported the initiative from inception, singling out former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and President John Dramani Mahama.
He said Africa was ready to lead the new agenda at multiple levels.
