The Global Health CSOs Coalition welcomes the European Commission’s new Global Health Resilience Initiative (GHRI) as an important political signal that global health remains a strategic priority for the European Union at a time of rising geopolitical instability, shrinking development assistance and increasing global health risks.
The initiative rightly recognises that resilient health systems, multilateral cooperation, equitable access to medical countermeasures, and sustained investment in research, innovation, and preparedness are essential for global stability and Europe’s own resilience and prosperity. We welcome the emphasis on primary health care as the foundation of resilient health systems and as key to life-saving interventions for children. We also welcome the inclusion of health misinformation and scientific trust, as resilience is impossible without tackling the infodemic, including gendered health misinformation and disinformation, and the initiative’s support for multilateralism and partnerships such as the WHO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
Ambition must be matched with concrete political and financial commitments. Civil society will closely monitor whether the GHRI is backed by predictable, sustained financing, with robust accountability mechanisms and safeguards ensuring health sovereignty is not used as a pretext for premature aid withdrawal or setbacks on the value-based approach.Negotiations on the next Multiannual Financial Framework and Global Europe Instrument must deliver a binding 20% human development target and a strong Global pillar. This financing must also support gender-responsive health systems, including primary healthcare, community-based services, the health workforce, research and innovation, and services addressing gender-related barriers to access, affordability and quality of care.
Resilience demands equity, inclusion, and health sovereignty, achieved only through genuine community engagement and country ownership. The GHRI rightly acknowledges persistent gender inequalities in health outcomes, but these must be systematically addressed across implementation rather than treated as an add-on. This means systematically embedding civil society organisations, local communities, and community health workers into GHRI implementation and governance through dedicated, well-defined mechanisms.
We believe that EU competitiveness and security interests emphasised in the GHRI must go hand in hand with a strong equity and inclusion agenda, ensuring that global health remains a universal right and global public good. Investments must reach those at highest risk of being left behind. A narrow focus on competitiveness, supply chains and health security must not sideline investments in gender equality, human rights and essential health services, including maternal health, women’s health, adolescent health, HIV services and sexual and reproductive health services, particularly during crises and shocks.
The Global Health Resilience Initiative marks an important commitment of the European Union into reaffirming its leadership in global health. As the Commission moves into implementation, civil society organisations stand ready to act as constructive partners and sounding boards to help ensure coherence with existing EU commitments, including the EU Global Health Strategy, and to support the delivery of resilient, equitable and sustainable health systems globally.
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