What We DoIssuesGlobal HealthGlobal Health Resource CenterCommitments Made, Challenges Ahead: How Stakeholders are Coming Together to Advance Global Health
Written by Patty Sanchez Bao & Celynne Balatbat, United Nations Foundation
While inboxes may have been quieter over July and August, global health kept moving forward. A series of high-level convenings—from Brasília to Tokyo to Lusaka—advanced agendas on climate, health, and Africa’s regional development priorities. These meetings carried important signals for the months ahead: a new action plan linking climate adaptation and health systems resilience, fresh commitments to immunization and local manufacturing, and renewed calls for equity and universal health coverage. With commitments now on the table, the central question is how countries will build on these promises to strengthen their health systems while adapting to resource constraints, rising demands, and a shifting political landscape. This overview highlights the key outcomes of recent convenings and their implications for the months ahead.
From July 29 to 31, 2025, governments, researchers, and representatives from civil society gathered in Brasília for the Fifth Global Conference on Climate and Health, co-hosted by the Government of Brazil, the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). This event was a key milestone leading up to the UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in November.
July’s conference underscored the importance of ambitious and equitable climate action for global health, laying the groundwork for the Belém Health Action Plan. Centered around three main pillars—surveillance and monitoring, evidence-based policy and strategy, and innovation and production (including regional manufacturing)—the plan will be officially launched at COP30 in Belém, Brazil. It aims to serve as a roadmap for developing climate-resilient health systems.
During the event, participants shared practical innovations, lessons learned from cross-sector collaborations, and best practices for building climate-resilient health systems, offering concrete contributions to the plan.
Equity was a central theme. Leaders emphasized the need to include Indigenous and community voices, ensuring that local knowledge shapes national and global strategies. The conference also highlighted innovative financing models to assist low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in adaptation—moving beyond traditional grants and loans to explore the private sector’s role in advancing climate and health resilience.
By anchoring health in the Belém Health Action Plan—with equity, innovation, and financing at its core—the conference helps ensure that COP30 will treat health not as an afterthought, but as a central pillar of the climate debate.
The Ninth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD9) was held in Yokohama, Japan, from August 20 to 22, 2025, bringing together African and Japanese leaders, as well as international partners, to advance co-created solutions for sustainable development.
Health featured prominently throughout TICAD9. During the opening session, Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba pledged up to $550 million over the next five years to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, reaffirming Japan’s long-standing commitment to championing vaccine equity and universal health coverage. The recommitment came as a relief to many vaccine advocates, as Gavi continues to fundraise for its next strategic period.
Development financing was another central theme. Japan announced an expansion of the Enhanced Private Sector for Assistance for Africa (EPSA) to $5.5 billion, alongside new impact investments through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and a Japan-Africa Co-Creation for Industry (JACCI) initiative to foster ties between African startups and Japanese firms.
These discussions culminated in the adoption of the African Union Yokohama Declaration, which emphasized equitable partnerships, innovation, and human security as foundations for Africa-Japan cooperation aligned with Agenda 2063 and the Sustainable Development Goals. The Declaration emphasized the importance of equitable partnerships and resilient health systems in achieving sustainable development.
By linking health, innovation, and financing, TICAD9 signaled both Africa’s growing voice in shaping global agendas and Japan’s intent to remain a central partner ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80) and COP30.
Zambia hosted the 75th session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa from August 25 to 27, 2025, in Lusaka, bringing together health ministers from 47 countries across the continent to set regional priorities.
Throughout the sessions, participants returned to a common challenge: how to build resilient, self-reliant health systems in the face of constrained resources. They emphasized the need to strengthen country capacities, planning, infrastructure, surveillance, and data use to drive resilience. They also called for greater integration of services—bringing vertical programs, such as malaria and polio, into the broader primary health care system—to utilize resources more efficiently and expand equitable access to prevention, screening, and treatment.
Delegates pressed for more decisive and coordinated action, including closer cross-border collaboration to extend essential services and surveillance to populations often overlooked by national systems, such as migrants and border communities. They also urged countries to increase domestic financing to reduce overreliance on external aid. The language of “African health sovereignty” was prominent, tied to self-sufficiency in vaccine and medicine production, stronger national public health institutes, and the growing role of digital technologies as enablers of efficiency and equity.
While fiscal space remains limited, speakers highlighted innovative approaches, such as sin taxes, blended finance, and stronger budget advocacy, as crucial tools to mobilize and protect resources for health.
Across these meetings, several themes emerged that are likely to shape the global health agenda in the months ahead. Climate, health, and equity were consistently treated as inseparable, with leaders calling for policies and financing approaches that break down silos and address these challenges together. Financing was another recurring theme, as governments and partners emphasized the need to transition from short-term aid to sustainable models. From innovative mechanisms for climate-health adaptation to commitments on local manufacturing of vaccines and medicines, the question of how to stretch limited resources while meeting rising demands was never far from the surface.
Perhaps most notably, regional leadership came through strongly. Leaders from diverse regions emphasized the importance of strategies rooted in local realities, insisting that international commitments reinforce rather than replace domestic investments. This shift reflects a broader push for equity and accountability in global health partnerships. Taken together, these debates set the tone for September’s UNGA, November’s COP30 and G20 Summit, and major replenishment campaigns over the next months and coming year, where the real test will be whether political momentum translates into concrete commitments and resources.
Last updated: September 5, 2025
Patty Sanchez Bao leads the implementation of the Foundation’s advocacy, communications, and resource mobilization strategy to advance global support for malaria elimination in Latin America and the Caribbean. Patty has many years of experience working on advancing human development for indigenous communities, women, and other vulnerable populations. Patty brings particular expertise in international development, corporate social responsibility, public-private partnerships for poverty alleviation, knowledge management, strategic communication, and systematic monitoring and evaluation. She holds a master’s degree in Cultural Anthropology from the University of Virginia, a Licenciatura in Social Anthropology, and a bachelor’s in social sciences from the Pontificia Universidad Catolica del Peru.
Celynne Balatbat is a Global Health Strategy Officer at the UN Foundation. She supports strategy development, policy analysis, and stakeholder engagement across key issues including pandemic preparedness and response, malaria, and climate and health. Prior to joining the Foundation, Celynne spent nearly a decade at the National Academy of Medicine, where she led initiatives on emerging technologies and helped launch a global research agenda on climate change and health. She holds a B.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior from Vassar College.
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