Role of International Organizations in a Global Pandemic

WACC Partner Program with The International Relations Council in Kansas City

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?

Dr. Samira Asma is the Assistant Director-General for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact at the World Health Organization where she leads the organization’s efforts to establish the results framework for accountability and using timely, reliable and actionable data to drive progress towards the Triple Billion targets[1] and health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dr Asma brings more than 25 years of experience in building country capacity and meaningful partnerships that lead public health programmes and policies to catalyze substantial and measurable long-term impact.

Dr Asma re-joined WHO in 2018 as the Director for Health Metrics and Measurement and led an organization-wide and multi-partner engagement to develop the 13th General Programme of Work (GPW 13), the WHO results framework and the SDG Global Action Plan with UN partners.