Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia has managed to collect US$1.3 billion for the Financial Intermediary Fund (FIF) from several donor countries during its presidency of the G20.

The funds have been secured for pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response (PPR).

"To date, there have been more than US$1.3 billion in pledges of contributions from sovereign donor countries, including philanthropy," the Indonesian co-chair for JFHTF, Wempi Saputra, informed in an official statement issued in Jakarta on Wednesday.

He said that one of the efforts to ensure good governance while balancing and maintaining the inclusivity of FIF needs of low- and middle-income countries and non-G20 partners was the organization of the 5th G20 Joint Finance and Health Task Force (JFHTF) Meeting.

"We also ensure that the FIF Board remains well-managed, agile, and effective," Saputra added.

JFHTF, under the G20, together with the JFHTF secretariat is playing an important role in supporting health and financial coordination to realize PPR during pandemics and other health emergencies, in line with international health regulations.

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The 5th JFHTF G20 Meeting took place virtually on August 30, 2022, as a follow-up to the results of the discussion of Finance Ministers and Health Ministers and the meeting of Finance Ministers in July.

During the two meetings, the ministers considered two main focuses, namely FIF and the development of coordination arrangements between finance and health.

Later, the results of the JFHTF meeting will be used as inputs for the second meeting of the Ministers of Finance and Health in November, Saputro informed.

In the previous ministerial meeting, the JFHTF was given directions regarding the progress of FIF formation and the development of coordination arrangements between finance and health for pandemic PPR.

Most of the G20 members welcomed the plan for the inaugural meeting of the FIF Management Board, which will be held on September 8 and 9, 2022, as well as the FIF soft launch agenda for pandemic PPR, Saputra said.

At the soft launch, the board will ratify the governance framework and operational manual documents.

Meanwhile, secretary-general of the Health Ministry, Kunta Wibawa, issued an update on the G20 Health Working Group (HWG) meeting, which provided recommendations to the task force regarding the priority of using FIF funds for pandemic PPR.

"This is in line with our priority agenda at the first HWG meeting to mobilize financial resources for the pandemic," Wibawa remarked.

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Translator: Astrid Faidlatul H, Resinta S
Editor: Suharto
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