In this episode, Professor Helen Sullivan and Dr Christian Downie examine the role of international organisations in the fight against COVID-19.

The United States government’s decision to withdraw funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) over its handling of the coronavirus crisis has brought simmering tension sharply to the surface. So have international organisations, such as the WHO and G20, handled the crisis effectively? With the economic impacts of the virus set to be truly enormous, what is the future of the global architecture of institutions, many of which function on fine margins financially? And how can Australia and other small and medium-size nations ensure these organisations are working for the global public good, rather than as vehicles for major power competition? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, The Australian National University’s Professor Helen Sullivan and Dr Christian Downie join us to discuss the response of international organisations to COVID-19, what the future might hold for them after the crisis, and the importance of global leadership.

Professor Helen Sullivan is Director of ANU Crawford School of Public Policy. She has published widely on public policy, and public governance.

Dr Christian Downie is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the School of Regulation and Global Governance at The Australian National University.

Professor Sharon Bessell is co-leader of the ANU Individual Deprivation Measure (IDM) team at Crawford School of Public Policy. The IDM is a new, gender-sensitive and multidimensional measure of poverty.

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