WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus recognizes Mr Brown as a leader who can shape and drive a future of robust, equitable investment in global public health The World Health Organization today announced the appointment of The Rt Hon Gordon Brown, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, as WHO Ambassador for Global Health Financing. Mr Brown is widely credited with preventing a second Great Depression through his stewardship of the 2009 London G20 summit. He mobilized world leaders to commit an additional $1.1 trillion to restore credit, growth and jobs to help the world economy through the global financial crisis.

More recently, Mr Brown has tirelessly called on wealthy nations as well as the private sector to ensure the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, advocating for a concerted global effort -- rooted in science and sound economics – to save lives, end the pandemic and restore livelihoods the world over.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, hailed Mr Brown as a champion for galvanizing the world’s major economies to protect health and prevent future disease outbreaks.

Dr Tedros said: “I am delighted and honoured that Gordon Brown has agreed to serve as WHO Ambassador for Global Health Financing. In this role, he will elevate and support WHO’s work to raise awareness internationally on the great need for sustained global health financing, particularly from G20 and G7 countries. As a longtime friend of Gordon’s, I know that he will bring his sharp intellect, firm commitment and deep sense of justice to this Ambassadorship.”

Mr Brown said: “I have a tremendous personal regard for Dr Tedros with whom I first worked two decades ago, and I am delighted to be able to help his and WHO’s work raising global finance to ensure everyone has access to health. Our immediate task is to work together to finance the vaccination of the whole world and protect the poorest countries from the terrible effects of COVID-19 and other diseases. ”

Gordon Brown Biography

Gordon Brown is the United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.

He served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2007 to 2010 and is widely credited with preventing a second Great Depression through his stewardship of the 2009 London G20 summit. He was one of the first leaders during the global crisis to initiate calls for global financial action, while introducing a range of rescue measures in the UK. In April 2009, he hosted the G20 Summit in London where world leaders committed to make an additional $1.1 trillion available to help the world economy through the crisis and restore credit, growth and jobs. They also pledged to strengthen financial supervision and regulation.

Previously, he served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1997 to 2007, making him the longest-serving Chancellor in modern history. During ten years at the Treasury, Gordon’s achievements included the Minimum Wage, Sure Start, the Winter Fuel Allowance, the Child Trust Fund, the Child Tax Credit and paid paternity leave. His record on global justice includes his negotiation of debt cancellation for the world’s poorest nations and the tripling of the budget for life-saving aid. His time as Chancellor was also marked by major reform of Britain’s monetary and fiscal policy as well as the sustained investment in health, education and overseas aid.

His role in government continued to shape his views on the importance of education as a fundamental right of every child in the world and the key to unlocking better health, greater social stability, more rights and opportunities for women and a higher standard of living. He is a passionate advocate for global action to ensure education for all. In his role as UN Special Envoy for Global Education, he works closely with key partners to help galvanise support for global education investment and the use of innovative financing to reach the UN’s global goals. He is Chair of the High Level Steering Group for Education Cannot Wait, the fund for education in emergencies; Chair of the Inquiry on Protecting Children in Conflict; and Chair of the International Commission on Financing Global Education Opportunity.

He recently played a key role leading a group of 275 former world leaders, economists and educationalists calling for international action to prevent the global health crisis creating a “COVID generation” - tens of millions of children with no hope of an education.

In addition to his global education work Gordon is an advisor to the Graça Machel Trust, Chair of the Advisory Board at the Catalyst Trust for Universal Education, a Senior Panel Member at the Kofi Annan Foundation initiative on Electoral Integrity, and he is also an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh.

Within the United Kingdom, Gordon is also the founder of Our Scottish Future, and the Alliance for Full Employment.

Gordon is the author of several books including Beyond the Crash: Overcoming the First Crisis of Globalisation, My Scotland, Our Britain and My Life, Our Times and most recently, Seven Ways to Change the World (Simon & Schuster, June 2021).

Gordon has a PhD in History from the University of Edinburgh and spent his early career working as a lecturer and in television production. He has been awarded several honorary doctorates, most recently Doctor of the University from The Open University.

He is married to Sarah Brown, the Chair of Theirworld and Executive Chair of the Global Business Coalition for Education, and the couple live in Fife, Scotland with their two sons, John and Fraser.

About WHO

The World Health Organization provides global leadership in public health within the United Nations system. Founded in 1948, WHO works with 194 Member States, across six regions and from more than 150 offices, to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable. Our goal for 2019-2023 is to ensure that a billion more people have universal health coverage, to protect a billion more people from health emergencies, and provide a further billion people with better health and wellbeing.