Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined over 100 religious leaders and faith-based organizations globally in calling on leaders of the World Health Organization to secure equity commitments to protect all populations everywhere from future pandemics. Read this letter as a PDF.
Dear co-chairs, deputy co-chairs and negotiators:
As religious leaders and faith-based organizations across the world, we are writing to urge you to ensure that the Pandemic Accord that you are currently negotiating secures equity commitments to protect all populations everywhere from future pandemics.
In the four years since COVID-19 first emerged as a global threat, millions of people have lost their lives, countless families have experienced grief, and communities around the world have persevered through the unbearable. In that time, we have seen how humanity at its best can reflect the divine, with remarkable acts of kindness, charity, and ingenuity. Yet, we have also experienced the tragedy of human nature, with a pandemic response held back by greed and narrow self-interest.
The sanctity of human life often seemed forgotten in the pandemic, with the lives of people in wealthy nations appearing to be valued over those in low- or middle-income countries. A bitterly inequitable vaccine distribution protected people in the Global North but left the world’s poorest to face COVID-19 unprotected for too long. Countless lives were lost unnecessarily as a result. As world leaders/negotiators, you have a moral duty to ensure that this never happens again.
We welcome the progress made towards addressing this inequity with a Pandemic Accord. As you enter the final stage of negotiations, we implore you to deliver an agreement that ensures every life is valued equally.
Your meeting commences as Muslims observe the holy month of Ramadan, engaging in charity, community, and divine reflection. When the second week of negotiations begins, Hindus will mark Holi, celebrating the triumph of good over evil. Christians will be observing lent, and you will conclude on Good Friday, as Christians reflect on the ultimate sacrifice of Christ. The text of the Pandemic Accord will be finalised during Passover, as Jews celebrate the liberation of their ancestors from bondage. And the Accord is due to be signed at the World Health Assembly, just after Buddhists celebrate Vesak, remembering the Buddha’s teachings of compassion, peace, and goodwill.
Each observance has its own stories, lessons, and traditions. However, collectively, they point to a set of common principles; of compassion for all humanity, justice for the oppressed, and the triumph of love and life over injustice and death. Today, we hope that you will treat those principles as your guiding light in negotiations.
In practical terms, that means reaching an agreement that ensures that everyone, everywhere can benefit from scientific advancement; that the tools needed to fight the next pandemic are shared equally; that the knowledge and technology needed to produce them are shared; that intellectual property barriers are removed when necessary; and that people in the Global South are treated not as mere samples for pandemic monitoring, but as equal partners in a collective endeavour towards a healthier world.
There are commendable efforts to address the structural barriers to health equity within some countries. Notably, the United States and European Union have implemented and proposed measures to overcome intellectual property rules when they pose detrimental to the health of their populations. Yet, these efforts cannot happen only in few countries. It would be a moral aberration to leave behind the countries that suffered most from these barriers during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the world has emerged from a health crisis into an era of war and all its component horrors, it is easy to feel helpless. And yet, in the darkest days of conflict, just as in the pandemic, ordinary people have extended hands and hearts to their brothers and sisters around the world with acts of generosity, and solidarity. As those endowed with a responsibility to protect future generations, we ask you to approach your negotiations with that same spirit.
For a full list of signatories, view the PDF here.
Photo of the World Health Organization Seal by United States Mission, Geneva via Flickr.