Hindsight 2020 and Foresight 2021 are much the same. This critical “review of reviews” analyses the true state of the world at the end of this tumultuous year and posits that the next year will be much the same. Can #COVID19 be fully blamed for all the world’s afflictions? Before the pandemic the world was already crumbling fast and progress on all fronts of development, environment, health, humanitarian and human rights had faltered or regressed. To make future progress self and collective delusions have to be torn away to grip the sad realties most people are mired in and the tough challenges we face
Author Archives: Mukesh Kapila
The art and science of giving thanks (and pardoning turkeys)
How to give thanks for all that we have the good fortune to enjoy is a complex business and how do we do this in the COVID-19 era? Thanksgivings from around the world give us a clue on the art and science of doing it right.
Looking below and beyond the mushroom cloud
Three cheers for the new Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty. Because an unequal world where some are allowed to retain offensive nuclear capabilities while others can’t acquire them, is unfair and bound to be inherently unstable.
Peace continues to elude the Nobel Prize
18 October 2020 – Mukesh Kapila The recent award of the Nobel Peace Prize to the World Food Programme (WFP) triggered mixed reactions. WFP’s humanitarian efforts certainly deserve applause. At the same time, questions arise. Do already privileged organisations doing their mandated jobs need such affirmation? More fundamentally, should humanitarian and peace efforts be confounded?Continue reading “Peace continues to elude the Nobel Prize”
Known only to God and statisticians
Reflections on the millionth death from #COVID-19.
Trading-off human rights with public health in the name of COVID-19
25 September 2020 – Mukesh Kapila Today, during the General Assembly marking the 75th anniversary of the United Nations, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights organises a high-level event on participation as a human right when tackling global challenges. A recent seminar by PlatformA and the Parliamentary Assembly of the MediterraneanContinue reading “Trading-off human rights with public health in the name of COVID-19”
Will the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response restore the world’s trust in the fractured post COVID-19 global health system?
17 September 2020 – Mukesh Kapila Some ten months after the first case was reported from Wuhan and, as the world COVID-19 meter clicks on relentlessly towards 30 million confirmed SARS-COV-2 infections, the Independent Panel For Pandemic Preparedness and Response meets for the first time today. It’s leisurely gestation has not matched the rapid evolutionContinue reading “Will the Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response restore the world’s trust in the fractured post COVID-19 global health system?”
Six jobs the new World Health Organisation leader should prioritise
1 July 2017 – Mukesh Kapila Dr Tedros should steer clear of vertical disease programmes pushed by donors, be prepared for his authority to be questioned, and tighten the purse strings The first ever African director general of the World Health Organisation assumes office on Saturday. The election of Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, or as he isContinue reading “Six jobs the new World Health Organisation leader should prioritise”
We need a revolution in mindsets at the top of the World Health Organization
9 May 2017 – Mukesh Kapila Medical science has never been so productive and yet health inequalities have never been wider – more of the same is not an option Does it matter who heads the World Health Organization (WHO)? Yes, say West Africans badly let down by WHO’s feeble response to the Ebola epidemic. Yes, say Darfuris, whoseContinue reading “We need a revolution in mindsets at the top of the World Health Organization”
Humanitarians need to do less to do more
12 January 2017 – Mukesh Kapila It’s time to end this cruel roulette over the life and death of people in need and tighten our definition of humanitarianism. Are humanitarians demanding too much? The latest catalogue of human misery seeks $22.2bn for 92.8 million people in 33 countries. This consolidated humanitarian appeal for 2017 is the largest-everContinue reading “Humanitarians need to do less to do more”
