NEW DELHI: In times of a pandemic like COVID-19 when the need is for a coordinated global response, there has been a big vacuum in leadership, especially at the level of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), says former head of the United Nations Development Programme and three-time New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. Speaking to StratNews Global on why leadership matters in the time of a pandemic, Clark says the first attempt to get a UNSC resolution led to a blame game, with one (read America) wanting to call it the Wuhan virus and the other side (China) opposing it. Former President of Mauritius and biodiversity scientist Ameenah Gurib-Fakim agrees, saying the need of the hour is for people who can lead with empathy, based on credible facts. Both the leaders say it’s stunning to see some of the great economies of the world struggling to cope with the virus and that the way forward is to invest in human capital and focus on the very basics of public health infrastructure.
