Who will steal the vaccine?

At one point I thought the world was coming together, strong, hopeful, hand in hand and with shared efforts to win the war against a nasty Covid-19. At some point it seemed we were heading in the right direction, and maybe with unity we could reach the most awaited outcome: peace.

But, politics interfered, accusations of who was responsible for the spread of the virus, who hid information about the spread of the virus in their country, politicians who denied the devastating effects of the pandemic, hence business as usual and World Health Organisation unable to become the leader it should be in such unprecedented times.

Instead of joining efforts to find a vaccine for this pandemic, countries are accusing each other of trying to steal the vaccine formula. This is an indication that material gain is what matters, not the health of humanity, what did we learn from this tragic pandemic? Why are we back to where we started?

This is not the first time, that humanity walked a path that may have united it on the road to peace. Paris Conference was one of the first rays of hope that resulted in the establishment of the League of Nations, intended to secure peace at an international level. The league was unable to defend its goals and World War II happened, this was judged as the deadliest conflict in human history. On the ashes of the league, the United Nations Organisation was formed.

Along with it came a system of international economic institutions, a remarkable advance in human rights laws and many territories gained independence.

This did not stop the looming Cold War between the two major powers in the world, it also could not prevent wars in different regions that brought humanity as close as ever to a nuclear war.

The third ray of hope seemed to be brighter when a series of world conferences were initiated by the United Nations, with themes that concerned the future of humanity. All these culminated at the turn of the century to the Millennium Forum, followed by the Millennium Summit. We are all familiar with the Millennium Development Goals that were set by world leaders hoping to achieve universal justice, collaboration and equality.

Though there is significant progress, a lot remains to be achieved. Let us hope for the best, and endeavour not to lose once more a chance given to us to unite.