On the heels of the novel coronavirus epidemic (COVID-19), trust issues took root regarding the performance and usefulness of international organizations, including, not surprisingly, the UN.
The UN has had no say in the management of this crisis, nor has it been able to mobilize its members to respond to it. However, the bulk of the criticism has been reserved for how well the World Health Organization has fared.
This controversy stemmed mainly from Donald Trump’s accusations. The US president cast aspersions on the WHO for being biased in China’s favor and helping it cover up the spread of the virus early in the crisis. Not everyone shared his views, however. Still, they hold some weight. US funding has been frozen for the organization, now dealing with the most troubling health crisis since it was founded in 1948.
Surely, challenging the role of the WHO at this critical time may not be in the best interests of the US. It’s the hardest hit country in the world by the epidemic. Rather, it would be in the interest of the US to take an active role in the fight and coordination of international health efforts, given that there is still no vaccine or treatment available.
It is likely that the virus will go on spreading for a still undetermined period of time. Worse, a second or even third wave of spread can be expected not too long from now.
In fact, this is not the first time that international organizations have been criticized for being the “puppet” of certain major powers, as is the case today with China and the WHO. Such attacks have been launched against other global agencies and institutions, such as the Security Council or other UN bodies. Blame is not the issue. Trust issues in them are. This prevents them from fulfilling their global role to the best of their ability and usefulness.
Maybe it was a bit too late to declare a global state of emergency and the virus a global epidemic. It may have been wrong too to ask the countries of the world not to close their borders to China.
Similar accusations and misgivings about the organization’s role in the crisis abound. But first, any blame against the organization must wait until after this complex global crisis is sorted out. Then, we have to verify whether these claims are well-founded, by means of a global debate among specialists, away from politicking. But that won’t be easy.
The point is not just to reveal the truth to the world community. It is also to learn from what has happened and to avoid mistakes of this kind in the future. If there are calls for an international investigation to resolve the controversy over the source of the coronavirus outbreak, the performance of the organization should be reviewed by member states to establish the facts.
Most of the blame for the organization might as well result from professional or technical errors in managing the global crisis. So, conclusions matter much more than any politically-driven finger-pointing. The whole world shares responsibility for any failure or mismanagement of the crisis. We must rectify these mistakes and ensure they do not happen again in the future.
By the way, some argue that the US has the right to hold the organization accountable. After all, the US, the main victim of the COVID-19 saga, is also the largest donor to the organization’s budget. Its contribution amounts to $412 million a year, out of which $118 million is an official share and about $300 million as voluntary support. But on the other hand, the timing chosen to call for explanations matters in this context.
As a general rule, if we look at its positions since the virus arrived in the Chinese city of Wuhan in early December, the organization has shown nothing more than excessive caution in its reactions and policies. For one thing, it has not put in place precautionary measures. As in previous health crises, it relied on the time factor to contain the risk of the virus.
However, let us not forget that WHO’s approach in this regard is no different from that of the international community as a whole. All the major powers, bar none, have been following what has been happening in China since the start of the crisis. All have praised China’s ability to contain the threat at the time.
The major powers could have given instructions and imposed trade and travel restrictions without referring to or expecting instructions from China. It is therefore not its fault, but that of the whole world, that the crisis was handled slowly and timidly. If there is a lesson to learn from this crisis, it must be that reforming all global organizations is imperative, so that they can act more actively and constructively.
