FairPlanet is possible, proves COVAX

topic:	Health and Sanitation
located:	Afghanistan, Rwanda
editor:	Shadi Khan Saif

Looking at the various disparities many people grapple with and the array of global geopolitical and socio-economic troubles, one wonders what it would take for fairness to prevail in this shared world of ours.

Well, if there were any moment in recent history with such a broad consensus on that, it is most probably now - as the coronavirus pandemic, with its universal horror, reminds us about the unforgettable nature of our shared fate, calling for equality and fairness.

When people in Rwanda received the jabs of coronavirus vaccines produced with untiring efforts by the scientists thousands of miles away in Europe, it practically showed the many possibilities out there to explore in terms of global fairness and closing in on gaps between the poor and the rich.

It is the beauty of humanity that we need to embrace, preserve and promote.

In the case of coronavirus, thanks to the cutting-edge scientific advancements (unlike during previous pandemics) we got the vaccine at a relatively reasonable time, while the global initiative aimed at equitable access to it, the COVAX, serves as another example.

The takeaway lesson from this experience is that the world needs to move with a similarly robust pace and rejuvenate the many idle global initiatives on climate change, universal access to health and education as well as the Sustainable Development Goals aimed at ending poverty.

Charity is absolutely not the right way to go forward on this path. The world as a whole, and single countries on their own, immediately need to address the inequality issues on priority basis, which is not a problem of the developed world alone.

In fact, in war-ravaged countries such as Afghanistan it is far worse. As a new class of post-invasion elite emerges here, tougher rules of accountability, which are vigilantly monitored by the international community, need to be put in place for the sake of establishing the foundations of a fair society.

Let us not forget that inequality here in this war-ravaged country, as well as in many conflict areas around the world, has been one of the root causes behind the rages of war in the first place.

Just like any other place in the world, Afghans also witnessed the ugly face of socioeconomic disparity clearly during the pandemic. But, with an inspiration from the COVAX initiative in the post-pandemic era, the whole global order can be rewritten and reshaped with equality and fairness at the heart of it.

Image by ranveer cool.

Call to Action

Congress: support global COVID relief aid