Recovery over the medium term: where the main objective is to restart and rebuild economic and social activity in a manner that protects public health, promotes societal healing, and preserves the environment.

Under this category, there is widespread alignment around the core goals, even if strategies are debated. Response in the near term: where the main objective is to protect lives and livelihoods, especially among people who are most vulnerable.Today, many of these same people find themselves scrambling to manage rapid and radical shifts toward uncharted territory, in terms of both what’s possible and what’s expected. For their part, many policymakers have long been accustomed to incremental processes and solutions that push gradually against the boundaries of popular and political will. Rapid environmental improvements linked to economic shutdown have rekindled consciousness of the profound interconnections between ecosystems, economies, and societies.Īll of this has prompted fresh calls for a broad-minded approach to the integrated challenges of policymaking. Tragic consequences of racial discrimination have catapulted awareness of systemic problems and triggered prospects for much-needed social reforms. For example, the need for massive and urgent government intervention has drawn fresh attention to social safety nets and the possibility of dramatic policy enhancements. Outdated or unjust norms can succumb to society’s pressing need for better approaches. Upheaval can yield new understanding and opportunity. Will cascading waves of infection generate rolling shutdowns of schools, shops, and much of society? Will a vaccine be discovered and delivered to billions of people in short order, or might new treatment options provide imperfect solace in the meantime? Will today’s international institutions emerge renewed, worn down, or perhaps even broken from the cumulative strain?Īmid these heady concerns, there are reasons for hope too. But whatever further political tensions arise, the underpinning questions about Covid-19 remain fundamental. If we describe the current situation as a “moment of multidimensional crises,” then one of its toughest challenges lies in the uncertainty around how long the moment will last. Trillions of dollars of economic activity have disappeared. More than a billion children have been shut out of schools. Tens if not hundreds of millions of people have been losing their jobs. Hundreds of thousands of people have lost their lives. As of early June, Covid-19 alone has generated extraordinary near-term costs. If problems beget more problems, one staggers to think of how much worse things could get. We do not know what other crises might still arise during the rest of 2020, nor the consequences they might bring. Huge numbers of people have taken to the streets in calls for justice, despite the pandemic’s persistent risks.

Then came a compounding social crisis – anchored in the United States but reverberating around the world – focused on issues of systemic racism and police brutality.

Next came a crisis of international cooperation, as countries struggled to coordinate their efforts in tackling a common viral foe. First came the Covid-19 pandemic, a joint public health and economic emergency that spread around the world with unprecedented speed and scope. The year 2020 will forever be associated with crises.

The great reset agenda 2030