Sec. 6908. Establishment of fund for global health security and pandemic preparedness
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The Secretary of State, in coordination with the Secretary of the Treasury, the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the heads of other relevant Federal departments and agencies as necessary and appropriate, should seek to enter into negotiations with donors, relevant United Nations agencies, including the World Health Organization, and other key multilateral stakeholders, for the establishment of— a multilateral, catalytic financing mechanism for global health security and pandemic preparedness, which may be known as the Fund for Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness (in this title referred to as the Fund ), in accordance with the provisions of this section; and an Advisory Board to the Fund in accordance with section 6909.
The purpose of the Fund should be to close critical gaps in global health security and pandemic preparedness and build capacity in eligible partner countries in the areas of global health security, infectious disease control, and pandemic preparedness, such that it— prioritizes capacity building and financing availability in eligible partner countries; incentivizes countries to prioritize the use of domestic resources for global health security and pandemic preparedness; leverages government, nongovernment, and private sector investments; regularly responds to and evaluates progress based on clear metrics and benchmarks, such as the Joint External Evaluation and Global Health Security Index; aligns with and complements ongoing bilateral and multilateral efforts and financing, including through the World Bank, the World Health Organization, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria, and Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; and accelerates country compliance with the International Health Regulations
(2005)and fulfillment of the Global Health Security Agenda 2024 Framework, in coordination with the ongoing Joint External Evaluation national action planning process. The Fund should be governed by an Executive Board, which should be composed of not more than 20 representatives of donor governments, foundations, academic institutions, civil society, and the private sector that meet a minimum threshold in annual contributions and agree to uphold transparency measures. The Executive Board should be charged with approving strategies, operations, and grant-making authorities, such that it is able to conduct effective fiduciary, monitoring, and evaluation efforts, and other oversight functions. In addition, the Executive Board should— be comprised only of contributors to the Fund at not less than the minimum threshold to be established pursuant to paragraph (1); determine operational procedures such that the Fund is able to effectively fulfill its mission; and provide oversight and accountability for the Fund in collaboration with the Inspector General to be established pursuant to section 6910(e)(1)(A). The Executive Board should include— representatives of the governments of founding permanent member countries who, in addition to the requirements in paragraph (1), qualify based upon meeting an established initial contribution threshold, which should be not less than 10 percent of total initial contributions, and a demonstrated commitment to supporting the International Health Regulations (2005); term members, who are from academic institutions, civil society, and the private sector and are selected by the permanent members on the basis of their experience and commitment to innovation, best practices, and the advancement of global health security objectives; and representatives of the World Health Organization, and the chair of the Global Health Security Steering Group. Individuals appointed to the Executive Board should have demonstrated knowledge and experience across a variety of sectors, including human and animal health, agriculture, development, defense, finance, research, and academia. The Executive Board may include independent technical experts, provided they are not affiliated with or employed by a recipient country or organization. Executive Board members appointed under paragraph (3)(C) should recuse themselves from matters presenting conflicts of interest, including financing decisions relating to such bodies and institutions. The Secretary of State shall seek to establish the United States as a founding permanent member of the Fund. The United States shall be represented on the Executive Board by an officer or employee of the United States appointed by the President. This paragraph shall take effect upon the date the Secretary of State certifies and transmits to Congress an agreement establishing the Fund. The membership established pursuant to subparagraph
(A)shall terminate upon the date of termination of the Fund. The Fund should establish procedures for the removal of members of the Executive Board who engage in a consistent pattern of human rights abuses, fail to uphold global health data transparency requirements, or otherwise violate the established standards of the Fund, including in relation to corruption. Any agreement concluded under the authorities provided by this section shall be legally effective and binding upon the United States, as may be provided in the agreement, upon— the enactment of appropriate implementing legislation which provides for the approval of the specific agreement or agreements, including attachments, annexes, and supporting documentation, as appropriate; or if concluded and submitted as a treaty, receiving the necessary consent of the Senate. In this section, the term eligible partner country means a country with demonstrated— need, as identified through the Joint External Evaluation process, the Global Health Security Index classification of health systems, national action plans for health security, and other complementary or successor indicators of global health security and pandemic preparedness; and commitment to transparency, including budget and global health data transparency, complying with the International Health Regulations (2005), investing in domestic health systems, and achieving measurable results, and in which the Fund for Global Health Security and Pandemic Preparedness established under this section may finance global health security and pandemic preparedness assistance programs under this title.