Covid-19: Funding for pandemic preparedness being “sucked away” by war in Ukraine

A funding gap of around ₤10.5bn (€12bn; $12.4bn) for pandemic preparedness in developing countries has emerged as governments in richer countries divert finance to military aid for Ukraine and other urgent domestic priorities, a conference on development finance has been told.Mark Malloch Brown, former UN deputy director general and now president of the development charity Open Society Foundations, said that funding for another pandemic in poorer countries was being “sucked away” by funding for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion of the country, and pledges on development aid generally were not being kept.The UK had reduced its funding for development aid from 0.7% of GDP to 0.5%, and commitments from other countries were “falling away,” he said. The reconstruction of Ukraine could cost around ₤350bn over the next 10 years, which will also require huge amounts of aid.Many European governments also face increased spending on subsidising their populations as energy costs rise…
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