ISMAIL LAGARDIEN: Unable to address the global pandemic the UN is no better than the League of Nations
It looks like the UN Security Council finds it easier to reach agreement on the next war than on a global vaccination programme driven through the multilateral system
A little more than four month ago, in this space, I made the argument — a reasonable argument I thought — that the UN Development Programme (UNDP) will have to play a deliberative role to prevent Covid-19 vaccine nationalisation. The argument drew on the UNDP’s own proposal to deal with transnational health crises, through the lens of Global Public Goods (GPG), first published in 1999.
A little more than 20 years later, and in the midst of a global pandemic, the UNDP and a range of other institutions have made little to no progress beyond “reaffirming the significance of Global Public Goods for health” (Saudi Arabia Think 2020), “Developing economies after COVID-19” (the Graduate Institute of Geneva), and the real doozy “Recovering from COVID-19: the importance of investing in global public goods for health,” by the UN itself. For 20 years, it seems, the UN have been talking about the value of GPG for addressing recurrent transnational global crises...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.