In light of International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s purpose to enable business world wide to secure peace, prosperity and opportunity for all, ICC Chair Paul Polman and Secretary General John W.H. Denton AO have written an open letter to the Saudi G20 Presidency to call for immediate and coordinated global action to ensure access to essential medical supplies, scale public health financing to tackle COVID-19 and restore confidence and stability in the global economy. Copy of the letter is enclosed.
In addition to this, ICC has reached an unprecedented agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) to mobilize ICC private sector network to help fight the pandemic.
The WHO anticipates a need of $675 million through April alone for preparedness and response efforts. To help meet this funding gap, the WHO has created a new COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund, the first-of-its-kind fund for companies, foundations and individuals to donate to WHO’s global response to the ongoing pandemic.
In this regard, ICC and the WHO have issued a joint statement outlining key elements which include:
· Disseminating the latest, expert advice to businesses;
· Forging collaboration between the private sector, UN and WHO country teams; and
· Providing business insights to help international COVID19 crisis management efforts.
