The Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC) applauds today’s federal government announcement of an allocation of $300 million in funding to support the much-needed global response to the COVID-19 crisis. Today’s announcement includes $120 million to support the development of and access to vaccines, diagnostics and treatment for COVID-19 including $100 M to the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator* and $20 million for the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), as well as $18million for humanitarian response. These contributions are a welcome next step in support of a global response to the COVID pandemic following a previous investment of $159.9 million made on April 5 

As cases across the continent of Latin America and the Caribbean have exceeded two million and cases in Africa are now passing 200,000, there is an urgent need to address the needs of the most vulnerable and ensure that Canada takes a lead in stopping the spread of the pandemic as well as its secondary impacts everywhere; not just at homeCanada’s announcement today is an important first step in that.   

“There is a pressing need to invest in stopping COVID-19 everywhere through an equitable global response,” said Nicolas Moyer, CEO of CCIC. “The needs in low- and middle-income countries are complex and extend beyond global health measures to food security, access to education, sexual health, reproductive rights and beyond. Canada’s commitment today is an essential step in ensuring that we leave no one behind.”  

As Canada continues to invest in responding to the pandemic at home, we must also support our partners around the world in their response.  With this new funding, Canada’s contribution to the global COVID response represents less than 0.25% of the federal government’s domestic response spending. We know that to slow the spread of the pandemic Canada’s contributions must extend beyond our bordersCCIC looks forward to continued and additional investments and engagement on the part of the government in contributing to the world’s global COVID-19 response.  

CCIC member organizations are active around the globe aiding communities at risk in this pandemic. CCIC and its members look forward to continuing to work with the federal government to support global efforts to address and mitigate the impacts of COVID-19. 

*The Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is a global collaboration to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to new COVID-19 diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.   

 

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