UHCフレンズグループ会合における別所大使冒頭挨拶
令和元年10月31日
(Check Against Delivery)
Excellencies,Distinguished Delegates,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would first like to express my appreciation to the members of the Group of Friends, today’s speakers and our partners, including WHO, UNICEF and UHC2030, for attending this meeting. Allow me also to congratulate all of the Member States on the successful outcome of the UN General Assembly’s High-level Meeting on Universal Health Coverage.
I would like to particularly commend the co-facilitators, His Excellency Ambassador Kaha Imnadze, Permanent Representative of Georgia, and His Excellency Ambassador Vitavas Srivihok, Permanent Representative of Thailand, for their dedicated and skillful facilitation towards this historic consensus.
Excellencies,
This Group of Friends was established about a year ago to build momentum and prepare ourselves towards the High-level Meeting on UHC, and further to facilitate the achievement of UHC by 2030. It was started by a handful of Member States, including Brazil, France, Ghana, and Thailand here with us today, and it grew to more than 50 Member States, including all of you.
Today we have mainly two agenda items. The first is to reflect on the High-level Meeting on UHC, and on the key agreements that need to be followed up. In this regard, we will hear from the co-facilitators Georgia and Thailand, followed by WHO and UHC2030 represented by UNICEF.
The second agenda is to share relevant health processes and milestones, so that we can take a holistic view of the relevant developments and the next steps. We have rich agendas to be briefed by leading Member State or agencies.
After that, I would like to hear the views and reflections from the Member States, followed by the closing remarks. I hope today’s briefing will be a useful forum for us to take stock of the High Level Meeting on UHC, and to share what is to come next. I look forward to the discussions.
I thank you.