As the world gears up for the next G20 Summit in Brisbane, Australia, the Global Network is focusing in on the Summit’s agenda in a push to get global health included as a key policy issue. To do this, we submitted a concept note today to the C20, which outlines why global health matters to the G20. The C20 is the Australian Civil Society Steering Committee, which will ensure that community-level views help shape the G20’s discussions and outcomes.
We are looking to the G20 – the world’s leading economies – to take concrete, tangible actions on global health and development this year. Considering the G20 makes up 90 percent of global GDP and gives the vast majority of global foreign aid, it is in an exceptional position to leverage its resources and convening power to make a real difference in the developing world.
Global health has not been a part of the G20’s agenda in the past, but the Global Network strongly believes that the G20 must address it in order to advance its goal of sustainable, inclusive growth. One easy example: NTDs keep children out of school and prevent parents from working, which decreases human capital, worker productivity and gross domestic product.
As host of the 2014 G20, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has pledged that the 2014 Summit “won’t be a talkfest.” As a way to encourage dialogue and collaboration among partners, the Australian government followed Russia’s successful model and developed an online engagement platform – a space where global civil society organizations can exchange viewpoints and weigh in on various policy issues.
Over the next year, we will continue to push the G20 to take up the issue of global health and NTDs, and hope that others will join us.
We know that we can have a greater impact by collectively calling for the G20 to address global health as a unified group of civil society organizations, academic partners and individuals―in the online platform and beyond.
An easy way to support the cause is to nominate which polices YOU think the C20 should focus on for the 2014 G20 Summit. It’s easy!
- Just go to http://www.c20.org.au/nominate-policies/ and drag and drop the issues in the order you want them. Global health is not an option yet, but the post MDGs, inequality, food security, and financial inclusion are also relevant to the fight against NTDs.
- Additionally, you can make an even bigger impact by submitting a proposal to the C20 about why you think global health should be on the agenda of the 2014 G20 Summit. Just send a statement of 400 words or less to by December 21, and feel free to reference ours as a guide. Thanks for joining us!