Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Helen Clark Applaud Historic Pandemic Agreement

20 May 2025
Geneva: Today the Co-Chairs of The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response applaud the adoption of an historic pandemic agreement by the World Health Assembly, calling it a crucial step towards a world safer from pandemic threats.
'This agreement, bound by principles of equity and solidarity, recognizes that even in uncertain times, the only way to prevent and mitigate the impact of pandemics is to work together, to protect everyone and leave no one behind,' said Her Excellency Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Co-Chair of The Independent Panel and former President of Liberia.
The pandemic agreement text addresses critical gaps exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, sets the rules and lays a foundation for collaboration to prevent, prepare for and respond to future pandemic threats.
" We congratulate WHO Member States for remaining steadfast through some three years of negotiating difficult but crucial provisions that should give all regions access to the tools they need to stop outbreaks before they become pandemics," said the Right Honourable Helen Clark, Co-Chair of The Independent Panel and former Prime Minister of New Zealand.
" Consider this agreement a foundation from which to build, starting today,' said Helen Clark. 'Many gaps remain in finance, equitable access to medical countermeasures and in understanding evolving risks. Don't wait to get started. Dangerous pathogens are looming, and they certainly will not wait."
Four years ago, following its review of the international response to WHO, The Independent Panel recommended that a Framework Convention be adopted under Article 19 of WHO's Constitution, in order to fill gaps in pandemic preparedness and response. Given the grave inequities in access to vaccines and other medical countermeasures, The Independent Panel recommended the agreement include research and development and technology transfer, areas that remained contentious over the course of negotiations.
The Co-Chairs note that language on these core provisions remains too narrow, and that pandemic prevention must include stopping outbreaks where and when they occur. This will require a public health, global commons-oriented approach to research and development and a measurable transfer of technology and knowledge to build regional self-reliance.
The Co-Chairs urged a successful and efficient negotiation of the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing Annex, which is the next phase towards completion of the agreement.
' We want nothing more than to see this pandemic agreement open for signature following the World Health Assembly in 2026,' said Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
The Co-Chairs also recommend that Member States and donors ensure the funds required, including for the World Health Organization, to both pay for the process and preparations leading to a first Conference of the Parties, and to find ways to finance pandemic preparedness and response.
' Pandemic preparedness and response remain vastly underfunded. Countries, regions and the global system must urgently think differently, and think big about how to finance this crucial public good,' said Helen Clark.

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Otago Daily Times

3 hours ago

• Otago Daily Times

Pacific relationship will ‘remain constant': Peters

Winston Peters out and about in the South Pacific. Photo: supplied When Winston Peters speaks about political engagement with the South Pacific, he walks his talk. Midway through his third stint as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Peters has once again demonstrated a commitment to the area which was a hallmark of his previous times in office. Now, as then, Mr Peters is a conscientious attender of regional conferences and forums; he has also visited 16 of the 17 other Pacific Island Forum member countries personally. Some of those countries have been visited twice or more, and Mr Peters has also twice taken cross-Parliamentary teams (with MPs from Labour and the Greens as well as National, Act New Zealand and his own New Zealand First party) to the Pacific. "That's important to send the message that even with future changes of government, our relationship with the Pacific will remain constant," Mr Peters said. He will be in Dunedin this week for a duty he has performed several times before, giving the opening speech to the University of Otago's annual Foreign Policy School. Now in its 59th year, the school is an annual gathering of politicians, diplomats, academics, students and those interested in diplomacy, to hear a range of papers on the theme of the conference — in 2025 that is "Small Powers and Strategic Competition in the Indo-Pacific" — and also to network. The foreign minister of the day usually gives the opening speech — although Mr Peters did not do so last year as the conference had a specific focus on health. He is back this year, and speaking on a topic close to his heart. "Why the Pacific," he asks. "Well, because it's our neighbourhood. No-one thinks that charity should not begin at home. Photo: supplied "The moment you then look at where you fit in the world and our level of isolation, anyone who doesn't pay attention to their neighbourhood doesn't know how the world is." While Mr Peters' reference was to geographic isolation, he also has plenty to say about diplomatic isolation. As Foreign Minister in Jacinda Ardern's first term in government, Mr Peters racked up plenty of frequent flyer points going to the Pacific. He then watched frustrated, out of Parliament and out of power, as his successor Nanaia Mahuta — to his mind — abandoned the region. While Ms Mahuta did have the reasonable excuse of the Covid pandemic cancelling many of her travel plans, Mr Peters is adamant that a vacuum was left in the Pacific which other powers sought to fill. His hectic travel schedule is an attempt to repair frayed relationships he said. "Was there a void? It was a huge void. They hadn't seen anybody," Mr Peters said. "Sadly, many of them hadn't seen anybody in New Zealand either. When diplomats take you aside, shortly after I came back in 2023, and said, we're not there, we were wandering. I said why, they said why do we bother because no-one will talk to us, no one's seen us. "I then began to realise from a leadership point of view, just how vacuous many of their claims of the leadership were. It was actually a disgrace. "And so yes, it's been hard work and it's been exhausting for us time-wise, but we've managed to fill it and we've managed to talk to others alongside us as they realised that more had to be done on the Pacific." And in South East Asia. New Zealand has just signed an enhanced partnership agreement with Vietnam and last week in a speech in Wellington Mr Peters said New Zealand was "working hard" to similarly upgrades in its relationship with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Singapore. Coincidentally, the Foreign Policy School is also hosting a roundtable commemorating 50 years of diplomatic relations between New Zealand and Asean. Photo: supplied Not that everything has been plain sailing in the Pacific though. There has been friction between New Zealand and Kiribati over the scheduling of official visits by Mr Peters, and a state visit by Cook Islands Prime Minister Mark Brown to China earlier this year to sign a partnership agreement also raised alarm bells. News of New Zealand's response — pausing nearly $20 million of core sector support funding for the Cook Islands — emerged last week. One of the themes of the Foreign Policy School is great power competition between China and United States in the region; the gathering takes place at a time when Chinese interest in the Pacific is as high as ever, and as the US is cutting its aid programmes worldwide, including to the region. Just as the former presented challenges to New Zealand, the latter presented opportunities Mr Peters said. "We should always be, though, doing a review of our offshore aid and our offshore expenditure. America is having a massive one at this point in time. And then the second thing you've got to remember is it is their money, taxpayers' money. I think that there's some reasons to be confident that we'll have a greater engagement." To that end, New Zealand's Pacific international development co-operation programme has been revamped to focus on fewer, bigger, projects — an emphasis which it hoped means that they will be done better. Projects include efforts to build climate and economic resilience, strengthen governance and security, and to lift heath, education and digital connectivity. Although not one of Mr Peters' portfolios, he has been an advocate for greater defence spending, and has urged that with the Pacific very much in mind. Quite apart from any actual or perceived security threats, Mr Peters well knows that NZDF forces deploy to the region for many reasons, and that the greater role New Zealand can play in surveillance and emergency recovery the more the country is appreciated by its neighbours. "When you are seeking to talk to people, remember that they don't just talk to you, they look over your shoulder to see what's behind you, or they look at your record. If they find that you're all words and no action, then your level of influence is massively reduced. So that's the first thing," he said. "Then the second, right across the board ... we are actually expressing the need for greater defence spending. It's important. And remember this, though it's a commitment, the timing of the purchase, the optimisation of that purchase, and the interoperability of those purchases are critical. "So it's not all here right now, it's going to happen, but at least we've made the commitment, and therefore other countries who are forced to make a commitment will take us more seriously." • The University of Otago Foreign Policy School, June 27-29.

RNZ News

a day ago

• RNZ News

Analysis: Tensions and timing test Luxon on first official China visit

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is officially welcomed with a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People, Beijing. Photo: Supplied / Dan Brunskill Analysis - Luck was not on Christopher Luxon's side for his first official trip to China. Even before the visit began, the prime minister was battling for control of the narrative, as a suite of former political leaders - including Helen Clark and Don Brash - accused the coalition of antagonising China through its embrace of the US. A clearly irritated Luxon batted away the warning - "maybe listen to fewer former politicians" - but the commentary persisted. In fact, the superpower struggle was given more prominence by events unfolding in the Middle East as Israel launched open warfare on Iran, with the US and China backing opposing sides. No surprise New Zealanders at home showed more interest in US President Donald Trump's "will-he-won't-he" contemplations than in Luxon's Shanghai sales pitch. Then came news of the Cook Islands diplomacy crisis right on the eve of Luxon's big sit-down with President Xi Jinping. Luxon had to have been cursing the timing, as his pre-meeting media conference was consumed by questions about the government's decision to suspend funding to the Pacific nation after its controversial agreements with China earlier this year. He tried valiantly to characterise New Zealand's issue as being solely with the Cook Islands government, but it was impossible to ignore China's contribution as one-half of the deals in question. Photo: Dan Brunskill That was evidenced by a pointed response from China's Foreign Ministry: that its cooperation with the Cook Islands "should not be disrupted or restrained by any third party". Such comments were not repeated, however, in the brief public parts of Luxon's high-level meetings at the Great Hall of the People. The leaders on both sides were direct in their opening remarks but not at all confrontational. Christopher Luxon has held talks with one of the world's most powerful people, Chinese President Xi Jinping, who began by acknowledging "ups and downs" in the bilateral relationship. Photo: Office of the Prime Minister President Xi Jinping acknowledged "ups and downs" in the relationship while Luxon pointedly noted the importance of "stability in our region". But both also stressed the value of their ties. Premier Li Qiang even welcomed the "candid" nature of the conversations. Certainly, there was nothing to suggest China is contemplating economic retribution, as some have suggested. Supporters of the government's approach will see that as proof its strategy is working. Its critics will caution it means only that there is still time to change course. Christopher Luxon at talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing on 20 June 2025 (NZT). Photo: Office of the Prime Minister To understand China's perspective, one can look to the state media for an indication. On Thursday, state tabloid Global Times hosted a piece by Qin Sheng, associate professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. Sheng said the China-NZ relationship could provide an example of "healthy interaction" in a world of "rising geopolitical rivalry and pervasive uncertainty". At the same time, Sheng warned that the US was "actively wooing" New Zealand to join its "small circles aimed at containing China" including AUKUS pillar two. "For New Zealand, it is important to see the broader picture and ensure that its choices align with the prevailing trend of history." From a personal perspective, the PM would've been thrilled that Xi had been "impressed" by him in their first meeting at APEC last year. Alas, that sentiment is unlikely to filter through to the NZ public in any meaningful way. All travelling media noted the paltry audience interest in the stories filed as they landed on the afternoon of the public holiday Matariki. More bad luck. Broadly speaking, business leaders in the delegation were enthused and positive about the China visit, but there were some quiet grumblings. Photo: RNZ / Craig McCulloch Two particular gripes came up multiple times in conversations. The trip's length - just two nights in Shanghai and one in Beijing - was considered too brief from a business perspective. It was hard not to notice the extra empty seats on the 757 returning home with several delegates clearly deciding to stay on in Beijing a little longer. Several businesspeople also questioned Luxon's strategy for luring back Chinese tourists and his characterisation of the issue as a "marketing challenge". When speaking to reporters, Luxon repeatedly insisted the problem was that New Zealand lacked "share of mind" in China and simply needed more promotion. The blame, he said, lay with Labour for being too slow to come out of Covid-19. Never mind that China itself had been slower. Photo: Dan Brunskill Those spoken to by RNZ suggested the more pressing concern was cost - and pointed out the coalition had hiked visa fees and tripled the International Visitor Levy. Luxon's focus will now shift to the NATO forum which is he due to attend in the Netherlands in the coming days. In his final media conference in Beijing, Luxon made clear he considered his attendance there to be quite separate from his China mission. But he must know the two are very much connected and will be viewed as such. In recent comments, NATO chief Mark Rutte has grouped China together with Russia, Iran and North Korea, as effective foes of the West. Asked about the remarks, Luxon said he had seen "no evidence" of those four powers actively working together against the West. One wonders how that "difference of opinion" - as Luxon put it - will go down when the PM arrives at the Hague. Just last week, China expert Jason Young told RNZ that one of New Zealand's biggest challenges over the next two decades would be navigating that tension between its Western security partners and its largest trading partner China. There can be no relying on luck for that. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.

NZ Herald

2 days ago

• NZ Herald

Top 10 bestselling NZ books: June 21

1. (1) A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir by Jacinda Ardern (Penguin) The former PM's memoir, the first such account since Jim Bolger, tops the bestsellers for a second week, and is unlikely to be dislodged for some time. It also holds the No 3 spot in this week's New York Times hardcover nonfiction chart (beaten only by a book on national economies and the benefits of owning a dog). Ardern's book has generally found favour among reviewers, including Henry Cooke for the Listener. He thought it intimate and fluent, 'compulsively readable, easily consumable in two or three sittings, and often very funny', even if it barely explained her government's policy decisions. 'Ardernism was always more a sensibility than a full ideology. It was a way of looking at the world and reacting to it, not a theory of change.' Cooke says 'there are some hints, near the end of the book, that perhaps she isn't so certain quitting was the right idea … There is little attempt to engage with the arguments against the latter half of the Covid period, when MIQ's usefulness looked shaky and vaccine mandates radicalised thousands of people.' Tracy Watkins, editor of The Post and Sunday Star-Times, agreed the book let us into some of Ardern's emotional highs and lows. 'We also gain some fresh insight into her own personal mechanisms for coping with such momentous events as the terror attack, and Covid. But we don't learn a lot more about what was going on behind closed doors within her government, which must, at times, have been under enormous strain.' The Guardian considered it 'an emotionally rich and candid read, [but] the downside of skipping the political detail is that it's hard to get a sense of how exactly her astonishing early popularity ebbed away'. Tim Stanley of the Telegraph was more acerbic, writing that 'the practicalities of the job don't interest her: this book hinges on how everything felt'. The natural disaster at Whakaari White Island and the Christchurch mosque killings 'brought out Ardern's best: authoritative and sensitive, she has a fine temperament'. But she subtly vilified her opponents, he says: 'I am so kind that anyone who disagrees with me must be nasty; so reasonable that my critics must be nuts.' A Different Kind of Power: A Memoir, by Jacinda Ardern. Image / Supplied 2. (2) The Book of Guilt by Catherine Chidgey (Te Herenga Waka University Press) Ardern's memoir continues to hold out of the top spot Catherine Chidgey's latest novel, which tells the mysterious, ominous story of three boys in an alternative 1970s Britain. It's a 'tense, compelling, genre-fusing book', said Emma Neale in the Listener. 'There is the hint of submerged identity; of aspiration and prosperity, rubbing skins with disappointment and neglect; a preoccupation with what is authentic and what is fraudulent; the self and truth only dimly visible … Calling on the deeply rooted psychological power of the storytelling rule of three, the novel is divided into The Book of Dreams, The Book of Knowledge and The Book of Guilt. Three women, Mother Morning, Mother Afternoon and Mother Night, care for a set of 13-year-old triplets in an all-boys orphanage. There are three main narrative perspectives: Vincent, one of the triplets; the Minister of Loneliness, a government minister in charge of national care institutions known as the Sycamore Homes; and Nancy, a young girl kept in seclusion by fastidious older parents. This attention to pattern also coolly embodies the quest for order and control, the troubling obsession at the core of the fictional investigation.' The Book of Guilt, by Catherine Chidgey. Image / Supplied 3. (5) Whānau by Donovan Farnham & Rehua Wilson (Moa Press) This illustrated pocket hardback, ideal as a gift, aims to improve your te reo Māori one special phrase at a time. Donovan Te Ahunui Farnham and Rehua Wilson offer up dozens of expressions, often with metaphorical or proverbial origins, such as 'He toka tū moana' (stalwart) and 'Kei mate wheke' (never surrender). Whānau by Donovan Farnham and Rehua Wilson. Photo / Supplied 4. (3) Dr Libby Fix Iron First by Dr Libby (Little Green Frog) 'The one thing that changes everything,' reckons the subtitle of the latest book from Libby Weaver. Iron is essential for our health, and its lack is particularly common among girls and women. Menstruation, pregnancy and hormonal change can lead to iron deficiency, iron absorption can be an issue for some people, and it's often a trial to eat enough iron-rich foods. Weaver's new book Fix Iron First aims to address this. As her website, which also sells iron supplements made from organic peas, notes that low iron doesn't just make you tired. 'It can alter your brain chemistry, slow your metabolism, impact your thyroid, disturb your sleep and lower your emotional resilience. It affects how you think, how you feel, how you show up in the world – every single day.' Fix Iron First: The One Thing That Changes Everything by Dr Libby Weaver. Photo / Supplied 5. (RETURN) My Matariki Colouring and Activity Book by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Scholastic) A 96-page companion to Matariki Around the World from a couple of years back, it's a colouring-in book based around all aspects of the star cluster, with activity guides, word puzzles, drawing tips and some recipes, written with a sprinkling of te reo Māori. My Matariki Colouring & Activity Book by Isobel Joy Te Aho-White. Photo / supplied 6. (RETURN) See How They Fall by Rachel Paris (Moa Press) Sydney-set thriller from Auckland writer features a Succession-style family gathering in their retreat after the patriarch dies. Tragedy ensues and, as the Listener noted: 'the gilded family will fall … Some of the family will fall by dying. By poison. Others by other methods: loss of reputation, loss of fortune. Those golden sands turn out to be quick sand which swallows nasty rich people up. You have to applaud.' See How They Fall by Rachel Paris. Photo / Supplied 7. (6) The Bookshop Detectives: Tea and Cake and Death by Gareth and Louise Ward (Penguin) The bestselling Bookshop Detectives, owner of Sherlock Tomes, have another mysterious case to solve. From the publisher: 'In this rollicking new adventure, Garth and Eloise (and Stevie) must sniff out a prolific poisoner ahead of a vital fundraising event, the Battle of the Book Clubs. As time runs out and the body count rises, it seems the bad actors are circling closer to the people and places they care about. Could Pinter, the infamous serial killer from Eloise's past, somehow be involved? And when anyone could be a suspect, how can Garth and Eloise keep their customers, their small town and their beloved bookshop safe?' The Bookshop Detectives: Tea and Cake and Death by Gareth & Louise Ward. Photo / Supplied 8. (RETURN) Matariki Around the World by Miriama Kamo & Rangi Matamua & Isobel Joy Te Aho-White (Scholastic) Stories from here and elsewhere about the constellation we know and celebrate as Matariki. Matariki Around the World, by Miriama Kamo & Rangi Mātāmua, with illustrations by Isabel Joy Te Aho-White. Photo / Supplied 9. (7) End Your Fight with Food by Claire Turnbull (A&U) From the publisher: 'We are bombarded with advice on what we should do to be healthier or lose weight, but making that happen feels overwhelming, if not impossible. This cycle of trying and 'failing' then leaves you stuck in frustration, shame and self-blame. 'In this compassionate and practical guide, nutritionist and wellbeing expert Claire Turnbull helps you break free from the struggle. She explains how our eating is influenced by our psychology, why diets often fail to deliver lasting results — and why willpower alone isn't the answer. Plus, she shows why focusing exclusively on the number on the scales can get in the way of truly looking after our health. 'Learn how to unpack your eating patterns and change your habits for good, so that you're eating in accordance with your health and wellbeing goals, rather than focusing on your weight. 'Beyond food, Claire shares the latest research on the key pillars of genuine wellbeing: nourishment, sleep, movement, relationships, managing stress and connecting with your purpose.' End Your Fight with Food by Claire Turnbull. Photo / Supplied 10. (NEW) Easy Weeknight Meals by My Food Bag & Nadia Lim (A&U) Tenth anniversary edition of this co-production with the meal-delivery company. From the publisher: 'Here is the solution to every cook's weeknight dilemma – what to cook tonight? Delicious, simple-to-follow, nutritious recipes that your family and friends will love from the My Food Bag team and Nadia Lim. These recipes have been rated as favourites by My Food Bag customers, so you can relax in the knowledge that each recipe is tasty, easy to make and foolproof. They're organised by season, and Nadia's background as a dietitian and her strong healthy food philosophy ensures that they are nutritionally balanced and good for you.' Easy Weeknight Meals by My Food Bag & Nadia Lim. Image / Supplied Source: NielsenIQ BookScan – week ending June 21.