Overview

The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the world in unprecedented ways. The World Health Organization (WHO) has made repeated calls for solidarity to defeat it, urging the global community to work together in recognition of our shared risks.

Only through collective participation and action, driven by the principles of equity, will the pandemic be over for everyone everywhere. Recent events, including the Global Health Summit in May and the G7 Summit in June, have shown the lack of political commitment to global solidarity among the world’s leaders.

The Centre for Universal Health and the Asia-Pacific programme at Chatham House have undertaken research to examine how the world responded to the calls for global solidarity and produced a research paper culminating in key lessons for the global community to consider, to foster and embed solidarity norms within existing and future structures. Many decisions and calls to action based on solidarity are still needed in order to equitably address this crisis and better prepare for the next. The discussion will address questions such as:

• What are the reasons behind the level of global solidarity demonstrated as the pandemic has continued into its second year and could it have been different?
• What are the prospects for improving global solidarity in facing global health threats and for embedding solidarity in existing and future mechanisms for preventing, preparing for, and responding to public health crises?
• What can be done, by whom, and how should it be done?

Panel

Speaker: Mirai Chatterjee, Director of Social Security, Self Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) India

Speaker: Ilona Kickbusch, Associate Fellow, Global Health Programme, Chatham House; Founder, Global Health Centre, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva

Speaker: Professor Keizo Takemi, WHO Goodwill Ambassador for Universal Health Coverage

Speaker: Mariangela Simao, WHO Assistant Director General for Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Pharmaceuticals

Chair: Rob Yates, Director, Global Health Programme; Executive Director, Centre for Universal Health