This first synthesis of the state of UHC commitment and country profiles published in the lead-up to International UHC Day in 2020, is based on diverse stakeholder perspectives of current country situations and commitments and summarises challenges and opportunities for advancing UHC in a world coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. It draws on many sources, including an online stakeholder consultation and survey, a literature review, media analysis, political statements of UN Member States in various global forums and a review of actions taken by global initiatives. The report is structured on the eight areas of commitment in the political declaration on UHC (2), which are based on the “Key Asks” of the UHC movement on which stakeholders agreed before the UN high-level meeting in 2019 (3). At the time this report was being finalised in November 2020, the pandemic—and the responses to it—are still unfolding, which means that it remains to be determined which approaches have been the most successful. However, key findings and lessons are already emerging.