COVID, Human Rights, International Law & Order

COVID, Human Rights, International Law & Order

Dalhousie University

December 09, 2020

Pandemics have been known to give extensive decision making power to authorities for centuries as extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures [1]. This time with the COVID-19, while living the most connected world of all time (as of now) with a pathogen causing horror and misery, issues have been internationalized. Racial tensions, human rights violations and ignorance has become a norm during this pandemic throughout the globe.

COVID-19 has also steered serious racial tensions among nations. It is needless to say that the tensions have been existing for centuries. COVID-19 has exposed the way BIPOC communities have been treated in the US and around the globe. In the United States it has exposed how the healthcare system has been systematically segregated for decades [2]. As a result of the systematic segregation the healthcare system in the United States remain segregated until this day.

Human rights, and international law and order have been significantly compromised during COVID-19 pandemic. Many democracies around the world are on a thin thread towards losing their democracy. Countries such as India, Brazil and Israel has been major examples of this issue [3]. The pandemic has fueled distality in the political scenarios of these regions. Not going that far from the continent, the integrity and tradition of the US presidential election has been jeopardized by using the pandemic. The 45th president of the United States of America has refused to concede creating an unstable and uncertain situation throughout the nation [4].

The pandemic has exposed the limitations of power within the international organizations responsible for crucial tasks. The already worsening climate crisis have been overlooked. While it is possible that a pandemic like this can repeat in the near future due to the mismanagement of the current climate crisis. Researchers have wisely predicted a pandemic like this way before anybody had a hint of it [5]. Yet, the advises are merely taken seriously by governments on time. It is very clear that WHO is one of the most important organization in the world at the moment. While WHO has become an essential part of our lives; not everyone liked cooperating with them, specifically the 45th President of the United States [6].

WHO has been constantly warning countries and governments about the risk of COVID-19 turning into pandemic when it was contained within Wuhan [7]. WHO has also stated that COVID-19 will not be the last pandemic, and the best time to prepare for the next pandemic is now [8]. WHO has identified a trend in society where people get bored of the same news and goes off-guard It is often observed that when a pandemic starts to flatten down, instead of taking sustainable approach towards the issue governments usually choose to feed new information about different agencies. Governments themselves move onto different issues and forget about all the warnings until the disease makes it big and infects everyone. In other words, the pandemic has exposed the effects of decades of underfunding crucial institutions e.g. health, sanitation, water, housing [9].

Works cited:

[1] S. Gebrekidan, “For Autocrats, and Others, Coronavirus Is a Chance to Grab Even More Power,” The New York Times, Mar. 30, 2020.

[2] V. R. N. II, “Why American Health Care Is Still Segregated,” The Atlantic, May 18, 2016. https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/05/americas-health-segregation-problem/483219/ (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).

[3] S. Feldstein, “What Democracy Will Fall Next?,” Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/05/07/democracy-pandemic-coronavirus-hungary-populism/ (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).

[4] “Why President Trump Refuses To Concede And What It Might Mean For The Country,” NPR.org. https://www.npr.org/2020/11/18/936342902/why-president-trump-refuses-to-concede-and-what-it-might-mean-for-the-country (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).

[5] A. T. Price-Smith, The health of nations: infectious disease, environmental change, and their effects on national security and development. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2002.

[6] E. R. and Y. A. Post, “Trump administration says U.S. won’t join World Health Organization-linked effort to develop, distribute coronavirus vaccine,” https://www.inquirer.com. https://www.inquirer.com/health/coronavirus/trump-world-health-organization-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine-20200901.html (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).

[7] L. S. | N. E. | C. N. | Jul 13 and 2020, “WHO warns of worse pandemic without detailed national plans,” CIDRAP. https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2020/07/who-warns-worse-pandemic-without-detailed-national-plans (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).

[8] “The best time to prevent the next pandemic is now: countries join voices for better emergency preparedness.” https://www.who.int/news/item/01-10-2020-the-best-time-to-prevent-the-next-pandemic-is-now-countries-join-voices-for-better-emergency-preparedness (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).

[9] “COVID-19 is not an ‘excuse’ for human rights violations, UN human rights chief says,” Devex, Oct. 02, 2020. https://www.devex.com/news/sponsored/covid-19-is-not-an-excuse-for-human-rights-violations-un-human-rights-chief-says-98192 (accessed Dec. 09, 2020).