G20 Joint Finance Health Task Force (JFHTF)
The G20 Joint Finance Health Task Force (JFHTF) was established by G20 Leaders at the 2021 Rome Summit to strengthen dialogue and global cooperation between Finance and Health Ministries on issues relating to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR), assessing and addressing health emergencies with cross-border, economic impact. Bringing together G20 members, regional organizations, international financial institutions, global health initiatives, and other relevant organizations, the Task Force has become a leading platform for dialogue between Finance and Health Ministries. It supports regular ministerial and senior official level policy discussions, including through the G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers Meeting. Operating under the G20 Finance Track, its work is supported by an independent Secretariat hosted by WHO, and it conducts outreach and meaningful engagement with a broad range of stakeholders.

The G20 JFHTF was established by G20 Leaders in 2021 to enhance dialogue and global cooperation on issues relating to pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR), promoting the exchange of experiences and best practices, developing coordination arrangements between Finance and Health Ministries, promoting collective action, assessing and addressing health emergencies with cross-border impact, and encouraging effective stewardship of resources for pandemic PPR, while adopting a One Health approach. 

The Task Force was established in the G20 which is the premier global economic forum, in recognition of the global macroeconomic impact of health emergencies and pandemics, and the need for focused leadership across finance and health. The Task Force Secretariat is hosted at WHO, in recognition of the crucial leadership role of the WHO in international health, and reports are supported by technical expertise from the WHO and World Bank alongside a range of institutions and organizations. The Secretariat conducts outreach and meaningful engagement with vulnerable countries, regional organizations, civil society, academia and the private sector. 

In 2021, the Task Force was tasked to work on modalities of establishing a pandemic PPR financial facility to ensure adequate and sustained financing for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. This led to the launch of the Pandemic Fund under the Indonesia G20 Presidency in November 2022.

In the 2022 G20 Bali Leaders declaration, the Task Force was asked to continue developing coordination arrangements between Finance and Health Ministries, and share best practices and experiences from past finance-health coordination in order to develop joint responses to pandemics, as appropriate. The Task Force was further tasked to undertake work to better understand economic risks and vulnerabilities from pandemics, and how to mitigate them, with a focus on finance and health coordination in response to new pandemics, considering country-specific circumstances and recognizing the importance of further work on resource mobilization.

The flagship reports and outputs of the G20 JFHTF have been used to support a wide range of independent reports and initiatives to support countries and include:

 

Secretariat

The Secretariat is an independent Secretariat hosted by WHO which supports the work of the G20 Joint Finance Health Task Force.

The Secretariat’s Terms of Reference includes submitting options, proposals and decision points for consideration and approval by the Task Force, undertaking coordination and outreach functions. 

The Secretariat’s work is performed ahead of relevant G20 meetings as appropriate, in particular the Joint G20 Finance and Health Ministers Meeting, while seeking consistency with ongoing related work at the World Health Assembly and at WHO. 

The Secretariat provides project management, coordination, knowledge management and day-to-day administrative support. The Secretariat relies on WHO, the World Bank and relevant international organizations, as well as additional resources for technical, strategic and consultative work for major Task Force deliverables. 

The Secretariat is led by an Executive Head with a lean and agile structure that supports Task Force objectives, workplans and deliverables. 

The Secretariat is staffed by WHO, and supported in kind by the World Bank and, as appropriate, participating international organizations, partner agencies and Member States, including through secondments and loans.

G20 Presidencies from 2021

Italy's G20 Presidency 2021

 

Early in the Italian Presidency, G20 Members established a High Level Independent Panel (HLIP) on financing the global commons for pandemic preparedness and response. The Panel, proposed by the Italian G20 Presidency, assessed the financing systems and was asked to propose viable solutions for the longer term.

The G20 High Level Independent Panel was tasked with:

  • Identifying the gaps in the financing system for the global commons for pandemic prevention, surveillance, preparedness and response;
  • And proposing actionable solutions to meet these gaps on a systematic and sustainable basis, and to optimally leverage resources from the public, private and philanthropic sectors and the International Financial Institutions.

The G20 JFHTF was established by G20 Leaders during the Italy G20 Presidency aimed at enhancing dialogue and global cooperation on issues relating to pandemic PPR, promoting the exchange of experiences and best practices, developing coordination arrangements between Finance and Health Ministries, promoting collective action, assessing and addressing health emergencies with cross-border impact, and encouraging effective stewardship of resources for pandemic PPR, while adopting a One Health approach. The Joint G20 Finance and Health Ministers meeting was held in October 2021.

Related content

Report: A global deal for our pandemic age

Joint Finance and Health Ministerial Communiqué

Rome Leaders’ Declaration

 

Indonesia's G20 Presidency 2022

In 2022, under the  Indonesia G20 Presidency, the G20 JFHTF, tasked by G20 Leaders, analyzed, and discussed pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPR) modalities to establish a financing facility. The work also focused on the operationalization of the independent G20 JFHTF Secretariat. These discussions led to the creation of the  Pandemic Fund – focused on strengthening the capacities of low- and middle-income countries. 

With the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration of 15 November 2022, the G20 membership extended the mandate of the G20 JFHTF in order to continue the dialogue and cooperation on issues related to pandemic PPR. In the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration, the Secretariat of the Task Force was asked to work with the Task Force co-chairs (Italy and Indonesia), the incoming Indian G20 Presidency, the G20 Troika, and G20 members to agree on a Task Force workplan for 2023, taking into account a multi-year planning horizon. It was tasked with continuing to develop coordination arrangements between Finance and Health Ministries, and share best practices and experiences from past finance-health coordination in order to develop joint responses to pandemics, as appropriate. The Task Force will undertake work to better understand economic risks and vulnerabilities from pandemics, and how to mitigate them, with a focus on finance and health coordination in response to new pandemics, considering country-specific circumstances and recognizing the importance of further work on resource mobilization.

 Key documents

 “Financing Modalities for Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR)" prepared by the World Bank and the "World Health Organization and the Bali Leaders’ Declaration".

 

India's G20 Presidency 2023

In 2023, under the India G20 Presidency, the G20 Joint Finance Health Task Force (JFHTF) agreed on a multi-year work plan 2023 to lay the foundations for a future “rolling steady state” for finance and health collaboration, centered around monitoring of PPR and ensuring joint readiness.

Priority 1: Leaders directives on continuing G20 coordination arrangements between Finance and Health for pandemic PPR

Priority 2: Better understand and mitigate economic risks and vulnerabilities from pandemics

Priority 3: Improve readiness for large-scale pandemic response interventions

Related documents


 

Brazil's G20 Presidency 2024

In 2024, the Brazil G20 Presidency discussed initiatives to strengthen the coordination between finance and health and increase investments in health and prioritizing social inclusion and the fight against hunger and poverty.

Under the multi-year workplan, the priorities emphasized the importance of robust investments in health systems to deal with future crises and keep the global economy stable in addition to improving the assessment of global health, social and economic vulnerabilities and risks arising from pandemics to prioritize policy responses. Brazil galvanized improved G20 coordination in response financing to the declaration of Mpox as a PHEIC in September 2024. The G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors’ Communiqué in October 2024 highlighted that the G20 Joint Finance Health Task Force (JFHTF) deliverables “reaffirmed the critical nexus between finance and health, underscoring that the role of the JFHTF had been critical for promoting coordination and advancing discussions on scaling up investments in health-related SDGs and Prevention, Preparedness, and Response (PPR) to pandemics and looked forward to the continued efforts of the JFHTF in driving the initiatives forward, ensuring that the momentum for scaling up investments in health and PPR remained strong”.

Priority 1: Unpacking the centrality of financing initiatives designed to tackle social determinants of health

Priority 2: Increasing resource mobilization to the health sector through assessing “debt-for-health” (DfH) swap arrangements

Priority 3: Improving the assessment of global health, and social and economic vulnerabilities and risks arising from pandemics to prioritize policy responses.

Please follow the below links for access to the deliverables for 2024 and the following link to access the Joint Finance and Health Ministerial Chair’s Statement G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministerial Meeting: Chair's Statement

G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministers’ Statement on Mpox Response

Tasked the JFHTF Secretariat to:

i. Support the WHO and the Africa CDC in their coordinated efforts, alongside governments in Africa, to respond to the Mpox outbreak;

ii. Support WHO and the World Bank to create and widely share a global Mpox response financing tracker;

iii. Assess the economic impact of countries most affected by Mpox through the application of the Framework for Health, Social and Economic Vulnerabilities and Risks to Pandemics (FEVR);

iv. Identify and actively share the findings of specific funding gaps and needs in the Mpox response by comparing needs estimated by the WHO and the Africa CDC with existing funding commitments; and

v. Outline the step-by-step actions needed to access existing financial resources.

Related documents

 

 

South Africa's G20 Presidency 2025

In 2025, under the South Africa G20 Presidency, and the themes of solidarity, equality, and sustainability, the South African Presidency sought to locate pandemic PPR financing in a broader context of health financing trends.

The South Africa Presidency continued to focus on measures to improve pandemic preparedness and institutional readiness to respond to pandemics and address the deep inequalities that occurred during the COVID 19 pandemic, by focusing on access to day zero financing and improving coordination between finance and health including by hosting simulation exercises and workshops. The G20 South Africa Presidency also explored the value add of the G20 JFHTF and how it might evolve and be further strengthened.

Priority 1: Improve finance and health coordination for key health financing issues, especially pandemic PPR

Priority 2: Better understand and mitigate economic risks and vulnerabilities from pandemics

Priority 3: Improve readiness for large-scale pandemic response interventions with a focus on day zero and surge financing

A G20 Joint Finance and Health Ministerial Meeting was held in November 2025 in which most ministers stressed the importance of continued dialogue on strengthening global health and economic resilience. 

Related documents

The G20 High Level Independent Panel on Financing the Global Commons for Pandemic Preparedness and Response (HLIP), was reconvened by the South African G20 Presidency four years after its landmark report A Global Deal for Our Pandemic Age.

In its new report, Closing the Deal: Financing Our Security Against Pandemic Threats, the Panel issued five recommendations for practical and bold action to take pandemic threats off the table and warns of compounding risks: global health financing is eroding just as the threats of pandemic and deliberate biological events are rising.