EPI-WIN Youth Newsletter

In light of the upcoming special session, we asked our EPI-WIN youth member, Bushra Ebadi, to share her thoughts about how the world can "build back better" from the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Youth Opinion Piece: Bushra Ebadi

"The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and amplified existing structural inequities. While the pandemic impacted the global community, systematically marginalized communities were disproportionately affected. Narratives of "build back better" and returning to a pre-pandemic world are problematic, because they do not account for the issues that led to the pandemic in the first place, and are contributing to converging global crises, including climate change, systemic racism, infodemics, forced displacement, and mass atrocities. Instead, it is imperative that we work together to transform systems and co-design a present and future that is rooted in justice, equity, respect, empathy, and community. To enact systems change we need to work across multiple levels of the systems in which we exist, and along multiple time horizons. An often overlooked aspect of systems change is a recognition of the inherent agency that each actor has within the system. Far too often, development and humanitarianism are dominated by narratives of "empowerment", which frame power as something that is concentrated in the hands of a select few and must be redistributed to other, less privileged persons, instead of recognizing that there are systemic barriers that prevent people from exercising their power. 

Young people have experienced unprecedented disruptions to their education, livelihoods, and mobility since the start of the pandemic. When we take a deeper look at the factors that contributed to increased vulnerability among youth, we see that many are engaged in under or unpaid labour and those who are gainfully employed often lack job security, benefits, and a wage that coincides with higher costs of living. Youth are also under and unrepresented in governance and decision-making spaces. While it can be easy to explain this away by saying that young people are apathetic and do not engage in elections, research shows us that young people are distrustful of institutions, perhaps in part because of their failure to meaningfully safeguard their rights and wellbeing. Political systems are difficult to navigate and can also be unwelcoming to systematically marginalised communities; those who do engage in these spaces are often tokenized, subject to harassment and violence, and asked to conform to institutions that were never designed with and for them. During the pandemic, forcibly displaced persons were subject to increased surveillance, with COVID-19 being used to justify increased restrictions on their movement and right to seek asylum. People working and living on the frontlines of these complex and multi-faceted crises are being stretched to their limits. The global community is experiencing grief and trauma, and yet we lack support to meaningfully address these challenges."

Bushra is a social innovator committed to advancing peace, justice, equity, and the agency of marginalized individuals and communities globally through the co-design and development of inclusive governance systems, communities, and systems transformations.

Recent speaking engagements include the Atlantic Dialogues 2021: Rebuilding an Inclusive Post-Covid Social Contract. Watch the event here. 

WHASS2: Special Session of the World Health Assembly on Pandemic Preparedness November 29 - December 1, 2021, Geneva

Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response Report November 22, 2021, London

On the 22nd November 2021, The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response launched a six-month progress report 'The Independent Panel for Pandemic Preparedness and Response Six months on, what has changed?'

Download the report and watch the launch event;

IFMSA Call for Youth PreWHA 2022 and World Health Assembly Delegates

Disclaimer: The EPI-WIN Youth newsletter highlights youth perpsectives and initiatives. The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the World Health Organization.