To meet the world’s most pressing health challenges, WHO, governments and global health leaders recently called for improved partnerships and resourcing to support WHO’s mission to deliver care, services and protection for billions of people by 2023.

The inaugural two-day WHO Partners Forum opened in Stockholm and was co-hosted with the Government of Sweden.

The meeting resulted in a shared understanding of how to strengthen partnerships and improve effective financing of WHO, with an emphasis on predictability and flexibility.

Global leaders in health and development, representing the public sector, health partnerships and non-State actors, came together to launch a new era of collaboration and innovation around WHO’s resource needs. Under the Organization’s Thirteenth General Programme of Work (GPW13), WHO needs US$14.1 billion between now and 2023.

“WHO is committed to leaving no one behind as we strive for the highest attainable standard of health,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “WHO is building stronger and more strategic partnerships with governments, international organizations, philanthropies and the private sector to deliver on the health-related targets in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).”

Other participants in the Inaugural WHO Partners Forum include leadership of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance.