This includes a pledge of €1.4 billion by the Commission. The Commission commitment is based on €1 billion in grants and €400 million in guarantees on loans through reprioritisation of Horizon 2020 (€1 billion), RescEU (€80 million), the Emergency Support Instrument (€150 million) and external instruments (€170 million). The total amount pledged almost reaches the initial target of €7.5 billion and is a solid starting point for the worldwide pledging marathon, which began on 4 May. The aim is to gather significant funding to ensure the collaborative development and universal deployment of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines against the coronavirus. The pledging event was co-convened by the EU, Canada, France, Germany, Italy (also incoming G20 presidency), Japan, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (also holding the G20 presidency), Norway, Spain and the United Kingdom. The initiative is a response to the call from the World Health Organization (WHO) and a group of health actors for a global collaboration for the accelerated development, production and equitable global access to essential new coronavirus health technologies. The Coronavirus Global Response Initiative is comprised of three partnerships for testing, treatment and prevention underpinned by efforts to strengthen health systems.