Welcome to the IGO Watch Monthly Update for May

With such a large amount of news and activities from International Governmental Organizations (IGO)s from all over the world, it can be hard to keep track of everything going on. To make sure you haven’t missed anything, here’s our brief overview of the most important IGO events from May!

Before we get into the serious business, let’s start out with a little bit of a laugh. The Taxpayers Protection Alliance released a video on May 8 that poked fun at the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ridiculous things they’ve been doing with taxpayer money.

 

Business As Usual At The WHO

According to the German intelligence agency BND, Chinese leader Xi Jinping asked the World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus to suppress news about the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. During a conversation on January 21, Xi reportedly asked Tedros not to announce that the virus could be transmitted between humans and to delay any declaration of a coronavirus pandemic. It took until the end of January before the WHO declared that the coronavirus outbreak needed to receive international attention. Because of China’s delay, the world wasted four to six weeks it could have used to better counter the spread of the virus. Ahead of the crucial World Health Assembly (WHA) meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, governments around the world reacted and pushed for an independent inquiry into the coronavirus outbreak ahead of this crucial meeting. U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to permanently halt funding for the WHO if the body does not commit to “major substantive improvements.”

Unfortunately, the WHA didn’t institute any major changes. Taiwan wasn’t allowed to participate as a member of the Assembly and top WHO management once again showered praise on China, citing its “openness” to the possibility of scientific inquiries involving international experts into the origins of the virus. The official resolution for the inquiry demanded by more than 60 countries does not even mention China, and won’t even be independent, which may be why China ultimately agreed to co-sponsor the event.

The WHO has also remained silent in response to waves of criticism after the news of controversial appointments surfaced last month. The WHO’s elite group of “Goodwill Ambassadors” includes James Chau, a Chinese government news presenter who has broadcast forced confessions and is now exploiting his WHO title to whitewash China’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Also on the roster is Peng Liyuan, more commonly known as the “First Lady of China,” who has who has been a Goodwill Ambassador for the WHO since 2011.

In Other News

Here’s some other news about IGOs you might have missed last month:

  • China’s widening influence in the United Nations (UN) became ever more apparent, as the country’s Permanent Mission to the UN issued a statement that China paid the remaining balance of its 2020 dues to the UN. The move and announcement reflect China’s full support for the large international organization.
  • More than a dozen UN independent rights experts slammed the world agency on its response to the cholera epidemic in Haiti that has left more than 10,000 dead and over 800,000 infected after being introduced by UN peacekeepers shortly after Haiti’s devastating 2010 earthquake. They note that despite that the UN’s failure to screen its peacekeepers for the deadly disease and having pledged $400m for a cholera clean-up mission, the UN has raised just $21m and spent “a pitiful” $3m in trying to make this right.
  • To finish off with some positive news – COP26, UN’s yearly virtue-signaling conference that wastes tens of millions of taxpayer dollars, has been postponed once again, this time for late 2021.


World No Tobacco Day: Debunking the Myths

With World No Tobacco Day being observed around the world every year on 31 May, we thought it would be helpful to inform the public on the dangers of flawed science and misinformation. Here are some debunked myths that are being actively promoted by the WHO.


Partner Spotlight: Edmund Burke Institute

The Edmund Burke Institute (EBI) is an Irish-based and Irish-led not-for-profit educational organization and charity which promotes economic freedom and the norms and values which allow economic freedom to prosper.

The central mission of the EBI is educational. The institute is apolitical and nonpartisan but not impartial. The guiding principle is that only free and transparent markets, and the cultural and institutional norms that allow them to function, can reveal the true price of any good or service.


See Something? Say Something!

We’re always looking for regional coordinators from countries around the world to help us distribute information on social media, write blog posts and op-eds, and provide us with on-the-ground information from their regions. If you have any tips about stories, or would like to become a regional coordinator, please send us an email!

Until next month,

IGO Watch Team

 

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