Polity Link International proudly hosted the side event on UN Social Forum on “The Importance of Good Governance and Global Cooperation in times of crisis, with a special focus on the COVID 19 pandemic. The panel engaged in a fruitful discussion with two distinguished speakers, Mr. Josef Kanders, Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, Germany and Ms. Farkhunda Zahra Naderi, Former Senior Advisor to Ex President Ashraf Ghani in UN affairs, Afghanistan. The event saw active participation from all over the world.
The session commenced with our first speaker, Mr Kanders, highlighting the different facets of how crisis management works in Germany. He has been associated with the German Air Force and Federal affairs for Disaster management in Germany and is aware of the security architecture in the country and it’s crisis handling protocol. He talked about the German Security system, wherein, the Law Enforcement Agency, Bundeswehr(German Military), Intelligence Agencies, Civil Protection Agencies and Private Sector Infrastructure Operators were discussed. In response to the crisis management during COVID-19, the frontline workers, the state and the federal government was discussed. He pointed out how they were successful at various stages and how they failed in managing the crisis. The role frontline workers and first-responders was discussed and duly appreciated. Our speaker ended the session by talking about the working of crisis management in general. The assessment of the situation, planning, evaluation and resolution were mined out as important steps. The German system of coordination of different authorities and departments at decision making level was looked into.
Before introducing the second speaker from Afghanistan, it was pointed out that there was a special motive to having speakers from two different extremes of the world on the panel. It was to notice the polarities in the world we are living. On one hand, there are countries and states with such efficient, bureaucratic mechanisms, while on the other hand there are parts where crisis and turmoil has been burning. Keeping this in mind, Ms. Naderi spoke about the significance of Global Cooperation in the context of crisis management. She pointed out how the different realities of different regions of the world make the definition of crisis entirely different for them. She spoke about the political mishap in Afghanistan and called for Global Cooperation and to deal with the ongoing crisis. Her prime motive was to point out how her country is dealing with a wrecked political structure and the pandemic at the same time. Ms Naderi believes,” Good governance is needed for all kinds of crisis management”. She talked about how basics of living and other aids need to be made available to the public in Afghanistan in a way that it is accessible and does not go to waste. Taking about the Fall of Kabul and system collapse in the country, she said that the Afghan government’s fall was inevitable does not make the astonishing speed of that collapse any less tragic. One generation’s worth of progress — including improvements in literacy, life span and the rights of women and girls — is now threatened to be wiped out.
It was the culmination of a military offensive that began in May 2021 against the Afghan government. The capture took place hours after President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Most of the provincial capitals of Afghanistan had fallen one after the other in the midst of a U.S. troop withdrawal that was to be completed by 31 August. Our speaker pointed out that the country needed international cooperation in aid. She yielded that without good governance the state cannot even provide basic security for public as evident from the mass killings and bombings in Kabul and various parts of the country. She said it was believed that the onset of Taliban rule will provide security and bring about coherence in the political structure but even today the country stands in ruins.
Afghanistan has been brought to the brink of a civil war along with the different terrorist groups trying to prove their supremacy and rise to power. This is proving a threat for the neighbouring countries as well as the world calling about a need for Global Cooperation.
The panel unanimously agreed that more active mechanisms are needed globally in delivering humanitarian aids to the countries or states in political turmoil and it is such situations that make the reliance of countries on the UN and other International Forums necessary.