CHRISTIANA ESSIE SAGAY

“The COVID-19 virus knows no borders. This has been a wake-up call for the world to stand in solidarity and work together. If there was ever a time for countries and governments to support one another and invest in health globally, it is right now.”

          - Karina Gould, Canadian Minister of International Development

“A large-scale, coordinated and comprehensive multilateral response is needed now more than ever.

- Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General (UNSG)

Many events have altered the course of humanity over the last 2,000 years; with each event comes the interrogation of international and cross-border cooperation. In 2020, after Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, we again arrived at that crossroads. It behooves nation-states once more to interrogate the essence of international cooperation and to stand in solidarity to “face a common enemy;” COVID-19.

On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of COVID-19 to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Following this declaration, and amid the rising toll of infection and deaths resulting from the novel coronavirus, a group of experts embarked on a WHO-China Joint Mission to Wuhan, which lasted from February 16 – 24, 2020. This Joint Mission comprised of experts from Canada, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore and the U.S. (CDC, NIH). During this trip, experts travelled to Wuhan and two other cities in China to gather information to prepare and respond to the impact of COVID-19. The information gathered supported the fact that COVID-19, a newly identified pathogen, at the time had no known human immunity. This fact presented a reality that every human on the face of the earth was susceptible to its infection. This reality, therefore, created a need to devise a public health prevention and preparedness response to its impacts. Measures were consequently proposed to limit its spread. These measures include restriction of movement, social distancing, school and workplace closures, wearing masks in public, mandatory quarantine, and voluntary quarantine with active surveillance.

On March 11, 2020, with 118,000 confirmed cases and 4,291 deaths, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic. At this point, the world looked to the public health and preparedness response that culminated from the WHO-China Joint Mission to reduce the spread and give humanity a chance at curbing the constantly rising spate of infection and death. The correlating effect of keeping humanity safe carried with it a crippling impact on the socio-economic fabric of countries the world over. Measures such as mandatory and voluntary quarantine, social distance and isolation tore at social interaction, incapacitated businesses, dissipated reserves and created functional chaos in almost all facets of human existence. Unsurprisingly, the IMF declared that the COVID-19 pandemic brought a detrimental effect on the global economy by plunging it into the worst recession since the Great Depression. The IMF further referred to the pandemic as the GREAT LOCKDOWN. In the nine months since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, it has tremendously affected commerce, labour, and international businesses, notably tourism and aviation. It has tugged at every fibre of human interaction as we have known it thus far.

Under the weight of COVID-19, the international community has made a consistent effort to stick to one-word SOLIDARITY. The United Nations system, including the United Nations and its agencies, continues to define and redefine ways for member nations and stakeholders to address this pandemic without LEAVING ANYONE BEHIND. One such method was in the establishment of a COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund. The fund was established on March 13, outlining a funding need of at least $675. By December 16, 2020, the fund received $238,892,825 in contributions and pledges from several individuals, countries, and companies, disbursing a sizeable amount to WHO for the procurement and distribution of essential commodities, to CEPI for the catalyzation and coordination of global vaccine R&D, to UNICEF for the support offered to vulnerable and low-income communities, to UNHCR for protection of at-risk internally displaced people and refugees, to UNRWA for the support of refugee population in Gaza, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, and the World Organization of International Scout for the alleviation of negative impact on pandemic on youth development.

Also, the WHO developed strategic preparedness and response, including a solidarity clinical trial launched on March 18, 2020. The solidarity clinical trial, a pact entered into by WHO and its partners, is an “international clinical trial aimed at generating robust data from around the world to find the most effective treatment for COVID-19, with the potential of reducing the clinical trial time by 80%.” With more than 100 countries joining in on the solidarity trials and 12,000 enrolled patients in 500 hospital sites in about 33 countries, the solidarity trial provided the bedrock for scaling a randomized clinical trial towards developing a global vaccine. 

Calling on global solidarity amid the pandemic, the United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on March 23, 2020, called for a ceasefire among warring factions of various armed conflicts – adding that solidarity in a halt in hostilities would allow humanitarian aid flow. In response to this statement, 58 countries put out a statement in support of a global ceasefire. Several other countries of the world rallied around to declare a global ceasefire to ragging conflicts as well. On its part, Canada put out a statement in support of a global ceasefire on April 10, 2020. On April 15, Emmanuel Macron, the French President, declared his intention to back a world truce after rallying the support of other security council members, including the U.S., U.K. and China. In the same vein, many armed groups also declared a ceasefire. For example, on March 26, 2020, the Cameroon Southern Defence Forces (SDF) announced a ceasefire as a “gesture of goodwill.” Also, 16 armed groups in Columbia, Yemen, Myanmar, Ukraine, Philippines, Angola, Libya, Senegal, Sudan, Syria, Indonesia and Nagorno-Karabakh followed suit. The Afghan government, on its part, called for a ceasefire during the Ramadan, stating that they have stopped attacks on America.

Acknowledging the need for solidarity, the United Nations General Assembly on April 2, 2020, in Resolution A/RES/74/270, made a clarion call to member nations national, regional and international stakeholders to forge ahead in SOLIDARITY to curb the spread and find a solution the pandemic. According to ¶ 5 of the resolution, the G.A.;

Calls for intensified international cooperation to contain, mitigate and defeat the pandemic, including by exchanging information, scientific knowledge and best practices and by applying the relevant guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization;

With airline operations ceasing, the efficacy of diplomatic and consular cooperation surfaced as countries of the world scrambled to ensure the safe return of their citizens, expending every political capital within grasp. For example, in the wake of the pandemic, the Foreign Minister of Canada on April 8 expressed continued cooperation with the U.K., including consular and diplomatic cooperation to maintain aerial bridges between Canada and the U.K., allowing the return of travellers from abroad. The U.S. Department of State and Tanzania worked to repatriate its citizens and lawful residents back home. Russia and France utilized similar diplomatic channels in repatriating their citizens home to counteract the spread of the virus and ensure that their nationals are home and safe. Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and India left no stone unturned in expending diplomatic capital to repatriate their citizens.

In quick succession to A/RES/74/270, the United Nations General Assembly on April 20 by A/RES/74/274 called on member nations and all stakeholders to foster international cooperation to ensure global access to medicines and vaccines for the COVID-19 pandemic. With a rising toll of infection, deaths and destabilization of the economy, the United Nations Development System developed five pillars for the immediate socio-economic response to COVID-19. The proposed immediate response of the UNDS envisions an interconnected and borderless response around the following pillars;

1. Health First: Protecting Health Services and Systems during Crisis
2. Protecting People: Social Protection and Basic Services
3. Economic Response and Recovery: Protecting Jobs, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises and Informal Sector
4. Macroeconomic Response and Multilateral Collaboration 
5. Social Cohesion and Community Resilience

One thread that runs through all pillars is the call for solidarity, borderless response and Multilateral collaboration. Fiscal and financial surge as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic mainly requires multilateral collaboration and intervention. At the point of developing the UNDS response, the impacts of COVID-19 have shattered the labour market, scaled down consumption and production, and disrupted the global supply chain, which is critical to the survival of any nation. Countries of the world relied on allies and expended political capital to ensure that the supply chain remained intact and that essential items continue to flow, especially medical supplies and PPE.

Responding to the challenges posed to the global supply chain, 42 World Trade Organization member nations signed a joint statement on May 5. The statement targeted reinforcing commitment and support to rules-based multilateral trade. This commitment would facilitate and ensure the cross-border movement of essential goods, including undisrupted agriculture and agrifood supply chains. Similarly, on April 30, 2020, the Association of South Eastern Nations (ASEAN) and the Members of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) on May 5, 2020, committed to ensuring cooperation among their members responsible for trade to ensure that there is no disruption to the supply chain.

So far, the mutuality of trade-offs between nations of the world has created a cushion for some of the most significant challenges presented by the pandemic. And though the impact of the pandemic varies from country to country, region to region, and carries with it aspects peculiar to a people, one thing is certain: the world has one enemy. In its wake, COVID-19 has increased poverty, resurfaced the nagging distinction between the rich and the poor, and further exposed social inequalities, bringing the yields of the SDGs in times past to a standstill while highlighting the urgency required to achieve the SDGs. 

But hope seemingly beckons - in November 2020, the successful development of a COVID-19 vaccine was announced. Following this announcement, countries around the world moved to approve the vaccine for distribution within their territory. But lurking in the shadow is the question of potential inequality in vaccine distribution. Though the UNSG has declared that vaccines must be viewed as a “global public good,” the reality remains uncertain for many people in low and middle-income countries the world over. COVAX – a programme co-led by the WHO, GAVI and CEPI, which has received status as the primary body responsible for the vaccination of people in low and middle-income parts of the world, announced on December 18 that it had secured nearly two billion vaccines. However, the complexities of contractual agreements, limited funds, and supply risks pose potential hurdles in the implementation process.

But again, now more than ever, the world needs to strengthen multilateral and regional responses and promote social cohesion. We need to speak and act in solidarity to “face our common enemy.” To get through this, we need a UNITED NATION! Where we LEAVE NO ONE BEHIND!

This is an edited and updated version of an earlier article titled “Interrogating International Cooperation and Solidarity Amid Covid-19; “The Great Lockdown,” published on May 9, 2020.