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Boundaries of the Boundless: The Curious Case of the World Health Organization

Updated: Jan 2, 2023


An international organization is the culmination of the states’ collective imagination to purport resources for and into a mission mandated to preserve and sustain the common heritage of humankind. This heritage is observed most strongly in the ambitious goals of promoting solidaristic measures such as sharing data, sharing information, sharing pathogens, sharing resources, and sharing technology to maintain a sense of urgency while engaging in thoughtful, sustained, and good-faith deliberation and consensus-building. However, to preserve the principles of the Organization, inter-state and intra-organizational differences must be resolved. If not, a global and overarching organization like the World Health Organization (WHO) will bottleneck. WHO is responsible for directing and coordinating authority on global health is marred with financial imbalance. The imbalance limits and imposes boundaries on an international organization. In the face of inequality, it is crucial to study the legal obligations of member states vis-a-vis financing. The present-day lack of adequate funding has created a deep cleavage and pits the Organization’s mandate

on one side and the harsh reality on the other. As a result, exposing the boundaries of an international organization mandated to curb global health challenges such as Pandemics. Through the paper, the Organization’s potency in terms of international responsibility and the rule of law will be apparent, and so will ineffectiveness. To do is, the article will focus on referencing the corrosion of human rights and the right to health caused to the global community. The duality of responsibility on states and international originations enables the origination to implement the responsibility that rests on its shoulders. International human rights law and global governance institutions can and should be powerful drivers for change. Too often, however, their far-reaching potential is curtailed by goals that focus on short-term gains rather than addressing the root causes of human rights and public health failures. They must also ensure the full participation of civil society, including independent public health and human rights experts, to improve the effectiveness and legitimacy of these efforts. Therefore, in times of global health emergencies, it is essential to note that boundaries must be limitless for organizations, and if we fail to prepare, we are preparing to fail.




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