WHO Director-General’s speech at the World Governments Summit

12 February 2024

Your Highnesses, Your Excellencies,

Dear colleagues and friends,

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

I thank Your Highnesses for your hospitality, for your steadfast support for the World Health Organization and global health, and for the opportunity to address you today.

It’s a great pleasure to be back in Dubai. I was honoured to be here in December last year for COP28 – the first COP to include a day dedicated to health, and I thank the UAE for its leadership in giving health such a prominent place in the climate agenda. It was the first of its kind. Thank you, UAE, for being a pathfinder.

147 countries signed the COP28 UAE Declaration on Climate and Health, recognising that the climate crisis is a health crisis.

In particular, I thank the UAE for its support for the WHO Global Logistics Hub here in Dubai, which has become an essential part of WHO’s operational response to health emergencies around the world.

Last year, the hub distributed medical supplies for 50 million people in emergency situations in 81 countries, in every region of the world – Afghanistan, Chad, Fiji, Haiti, Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Venezuela, Yemen and more.

Since the hub opened in 2015 in Dubai, it has expanded 7-fold, from 3000 to 20 000 square metres.

Indeed, the hub is currently playing a vital role in our response to several emergencies around the world, including the ongoing crisis in Gaza.

So far, we have delivered 447 metric tons of medical supplies to Gaza, but it’s a drop in the ocean of need, which continues to grow every day.

Only 15 out of 36 hospitals are still partially or minimally functional in Gaza.

Health workers are doing their best in impossible circumstances.

I am especially concerned by the recent attacks on Rafah, where the majority of Gaza’s population has fled from the destruction to the north.

WHO continues to call for safe access for humanitarian personnel and supplies;

We continue to call for hostages held by Hamas to be released;

And we continue to call for a ceasefire.

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