Health Diplomacy background

In 1955, 29 Asian and African countries met at Bandung in Indonesia to promote Afro-Asian economic and cultural cooperation, resulting in the formation of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM). In 2005, on the 50th anniversary of the original conference, leaders of Africa and Asian countries met at Bandung once again launch the New Asian–African Strategic Partnership (NAASP).

The driving idea behind the Bandung and NAASP initiatives has been to protect the interests of developing countries and strengthen their role and influence in global affairs. The BRICS alliance – comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — represents another attempt by emerging powers to identify and promote their common interests and consolidate their role in global politics. However, BRICS has been thoroughly tested by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has been widely politicised, among others by former president Donald Trump, who blamed China for starting the pandemic. Moreover, the production and distribution of COVID-19 vaccines has echoed the fault lines in global politics and exposed the self-interest of some major powers with the financial and industrial muscle to manufacture and hoard vaccines, with scant regard for the developing world.

Institutions such as BRICS could have been expected to play a key role in advancing the interests of the developing world. However, instead of provoking a concerted response, the pandemic and the distribution of vaccines in particular has worked to fragment the BRICS alliance. Responses to the pandemic in all five BRICs countries have differed widely. Most importantly, no attempt appears to have been made to coordinate the manufacturing or distribution of vaccines, or benefit from other synergies.

The webinar will be held against this background. Speakers from all five BRICS countries will evaluate the BRICS response to COVID-19 thus far, including the manufacturing and distribution of vaccines, and explore its options or ensuring an equitable response to COVID-19 that will not leave the developing world in continuing crisis.