How Covid-19 (further) politicized Humanitarian Aid

KUNO and Vrij Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) organize an expert meeting to explore questions according to Covid-19 and humanitarian aid. Since Covid-19 spread around the world, the world witnessed many examples of harsh geo-politics. The consequences of this ‘my-country-first’ behavior shows. To clarify this: in the United Kingdom 132 vaccine doses have been distributed per 100 people and in Congo (DRC) only 1 person per 1.000 (one thousand!) people has been vaccinated once.

Besides the ‘my-country-first policies’, we seem to witness how Corona-related support has further politicized humanitarian aid.

= How is Corona aid being used for political goals?
= Who is gaining what from it?
= And how could humanitarian NGOs deal with it – or perhaps even push back the politicization of Corona aid?

We introduce the subject by presenting three cases: Venezuela, India and (China in) Africa. After the introduction, an interactive discussion will follow in which all attendants are able to give input and feedback.

• Manuela Bolivar, Member of Venezuelan Congress (opposition party) and vice-president of the Venezuelan Humanitarian Aid Program;
• Gerardo Gonzalez Maldonado, sociologist, PhD candidate of Leiden University;
• Sudhanshu S. Singh, Founder and CEO of Humanitarian Aid International – India;
• Eric Olander, Managing Editor of The China Africa Project.

This interactive working session will be moderated by Eva van Roekel (Free University Amsterdam) and Peter Heintze (KUNO).

Did you miss this expert meeting? You can take a look a the report of the session.