Roles of International Organizations in a Global Pandemic

Lecture by Dr. Jennie Ward-Robinson, Senior Advisor to the Dean of College and Arts and Sciences and Director of Operations and Outreach, Center for Studies on Africa and its Diaspora at GSU; Strategic Advisor to the Global Health Institute at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst; member of the Board of Directors at the Smithsonian Science Education Center and the Dean’s Council at
Emory Rollins School of Public Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has thrust the World Health Organization (WHO) into the limelight for better
and for worse. While some of the Trump administration’s criticism of the organization is unfair, the
response to the early stages of the pandemic left many experts wanting more from the WHO. What is the
WHO’s role in responding to international pandemics? What can be done to improve the WHO’s response to future global health crises?