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CORONAVIRUS

FOR A GLOBAL DEMOCRATIC GOVERNANCE

The coronavirus pandemic has caused a global health and economic crisis that requires global solutions. However, the national-international structure is unable to offer an adequate response to it.

Thought leaders around the world have signed this document demanding to political leaders and international institutions to strengthen the UN system, the World Health Organization and the international existing weak structure as well, applying the principles of federalism and democracy worldwide.

FEDERAL-DEMOCRATIC GLOBAL GOVERNANCE AND CORONAVIRUS

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  • The current coronavirus crisis requires global cooperation and solutions which the existing national/inter-national political system is incapable of delivering. Seven billion human beings are now living in a world globalized by the economy and technology but divided into almost 200 national states which adopt separate measures with scarce coordination and effectiveness. The Covid-19 pandemic shows each of them prioritizing their own vision and interests, which causes unnecessary damage to the world economy and the global society, and costs thousands of human lives.

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  • By definition, national states are unable to deal with global issues. Their failures don’t just affect their own citizens but have spill-over effects on all the inhabitants of this small hyper-connected planet, damaging global commons. Global coordination and policies are urgently needed to defend the global ecosystem and world public health, and to protect the economy and employment all over the planet. Of course, national sovereignty must continue to be respected for national affairs, but effective global decision making is also necessary to protect the welfare and survival of humanity as a whole.

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  • To effectively tackle pandemics such as Covid-19, we need concrete binding action at the global level, such as early warning systems, information sharing, delivery and enforcement of norms, management of transmission across borders and vaccine-treatment research. Yet, while the World Health Organization (WHO) is mandated to deliver these functions at the global level, it lacks funds and enforcement mechanisms. Nowadays, 127 UN member states have still not fully complied with them due to a lack of financing and political will, the WHO can’t tackle countries that do not comply with the International Health Regulations and existing global disease control measures -such as PEF, CEF and GHSA- constitute a globally fragmented strategy, with disjointed funding, disintegrated policies and weak authority. The crisis shows that all the current health national/inter-national system is unprepared to tackle global pandemics as Covid-19, as well as world issues such as antimicrobial resistance and global warming related emergencies.

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  • We the signatories of this document, some few of the seven billion world citizens, urgently ask national leaders and inter-national institutions to take lessons from the Coronavirus crisis. Let’s work together to enable a better integrated 21st Century political system, reinforcing regional institutions, reforming the United Nations and making each level of governance more representative and effective; for example, through the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly able to deliver world health norms, the empowerment  of an International Criminal Court capable of sanctioning eventual violations, and the building of a World Health Organization equipped to respond to global health challenges.

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  • We the signatories don’t propose a world state or government. National states are needed to manage national problems, but an enhanced global governance system is needed to tackle global issues such as this pandemic. Otherwise, the panic generated by insufficient national responses to recurrent global crises will continue growing discontent and anger, eroding national democracies and strengthening nationalism and populism, with their simplistic “sovereigntist” responses to complex global affairs, and their threat to human survival.

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  • Humanity has become a real community of fate. Hopefully, the coronavirus pandemic has taught us how small the Earth is and how close we are to each other. The time of applying the principles of federalism and democracy to the global scale has come. Shared sovereignty, coordination and cooperation at the global level or national populism. A more federal and democratic political structure able to regulate globalization or further crises and chaos. That’s the question we face.

Signatories

  • Abdullahi A An-Naim, Emory University

  • Andreas Bummel, Democracy Without Borders

  • Bertrand Badie, Universités à Sciences Po Paris

  • Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  • Clara Riveros, CPLATAM Colombia

  • Cristian Giménez Corte, professor

  • Daniel Innerarity, University of the Basque Country - European University Florence

  • Daniele Archibugi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche - University of London

  • Dena Freeman, London School of Economics and Political Science

  • Elver Hilal, UN Special Rapporteur on Right to Food

  • Erna Paris, La Sorbonne

  • Federico Andahazi, author

  • Fernando Dalla Chiesa, Universitá degli studi di Milano

  • Fernando Iglesias, World Federalist Movement

  • Fernando Savater, Complutense University of Madrid

  • Fernando Vilella, University of Buenos Aires

  • Gabriel Palumbo, University of Buenos Aires

  • Garrett Wallace Brown, University of Leeds

  • Guido Montani, University of Pavia

  • Gurutz Jáuregui, University of the Basque Country

  • Heikki Patomäki, University of Helsinki

  • Javier Ansuátegui Roig, Carlos III University of Madrid

  • Jorge Castro, journalist specializing in international politics

  • Juan Campanella, Winner Oscar

  • Juan José Sebreli, author

  • Lorenzo Marsili, University of London

  • Loris Zanatta, Università di Bologna

  • Lucio Levi, University of Turin

  • Luigi Ferrajoli, philosopher

  • Luis Alberto Romero, historian

  • Luis Brandoni, actor

  • Luis Cabrera, Griffith University

  • Luis Cevasco, prosecutor

  • Manu Bhagavan, Hunter College

  • Mary Burton, author

  • Maximiliano Guerra, dancer

  • Michele Fiorillo, CIVICO Europe

  • Murilo Gaspardo, UNESP

  • Nathalie Tocci, Istituto Affari Internazionali

  • Nicolás Lucca, Periodista

  • Nissim Otmazgin, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem

  • Pier Virgilio Dastoli, European Movement

  • Raffaele Marchetti, Libera Università Guido Carli

  • Raimondo Cagiano de Azevedo, University of Rome

  • Richard Falk, Princeton University - Queen Mary University

  • Richard Sennett, OBE FBA - London School of Economics

  • Sabrina Ajmechet, University of Buenos Aires

  • Sandro Gozi, Presidente UEF

  • Santiago Kovadloff, Argentine Academy of Letters

  • Saskia Sassen, Columbia University

  • Sreemathi Seshadrinathan, Hearts for Hearts

  • Steven Pinker, Harvard University

  • Susan George, author

  • Teivo Teivainen, University of Helsinki

  • Theo van Boven, Maastricht University

  • Tim Murithi, University of Cape Town

  • Vicente Palermo, CONICET - Argentine Political Club

Civil Society Organizations

  • Asian Youth Center (USA)

  • Asociación Civil Usina de Justicia (Argentina)

  • Babel (France)

  • Center for United Nations Constitutional Research (Belgium)

  • Centro de Estudios para la Integración Democrática (Argentina)

  • Centro Mexicano de Responsabilidad Global (Mexico)

  • Citizens for Global Solutions (USA)

  • Club of Rome - EU Chapter (Belgium)

  • Coalición Dominicana de Apoyo a la Corte Penal Internacional (Dominican Republic)

  • Comisión por la Carta Democrática Interamericana (Dominican Republic)

  • Cultura Democrática (Argentina)

  • Democracy Without Borders (Germany)

  • Esclavitud Cero (Argentina)

  • Federalismo y Libertad (Argentina)

  • Fundación Dominicana para la Alfabetización (Dominican Republic)

  • Fundación Federalista Dominicana (Dominican Republic)

  • Fundacion Nacional para la Democracia (Dominican Republic)

  • Fundación por los Valores Humanos y la Ecología (Dominican Republic)

  • Fundacion Seguridad y Democracia (Dominican Republic)

  • Hearts for Hearts (India)

  • One Shared World (Spain)

  • One World: Movement for Global Democracy (Israel)

  • Organización Dominicana de Estudio y Promoción de las Relaciones Internacionales (Dominican Republic)

  • Red Dominicana por la Democracia (Dominican Republic)

  • Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (Malaysia)

  • South Asian Federalists (India)

  • The One World Trust (UK)

  • UEF (France)

  • World Citizens Association of Australia (Australia)

  • World Federalist Movement (Canada)

  • World Federalist Movement - Institute for Global Policy (USA)

  • Young European Federalists

  • Young World Federalists

Politicians

  • Brenda Lis Austin, Argentine politician

  • Camila Crescimbeni Argentine politician

  • Carmen Polledo, Argentine politician

  • Danilo Türk, former President of Slovenia

  • Eduardo Cáceres Argentine politician

  • Ernesto Zedillo, former Mexican President

  • Fabio José Quetglas, Argentine politician

  • Gabriela Cuevas Barron, President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union

  • Gabriela Lena, Argentine politician

  • Héctor Stefani, Argentine politician

  • Herman De Croo, Minister of State - Honorary Speaker of the Belgian House of Representatives

  • Ignacio Torreblanca, European Council on Foreign Relations

  • Jan Pronk, former Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation

  • Jo Leinen, former Member of European Parliament - European Movement International

  • José Ignacio Salafranca Sánchez-Neyra, former Member of European Parliament

  • Jose Luis Patiño, Argentine politician

  • Jose Nuñez, Argentine politician

  • Julio María Sanguinetti, former Uruguayan President

  • Karina Banfi, Argentine politician

  • Laura Garavini, italian Senate of Republic

  • Lorena Matzen, Argentine politician

  • Maria Carla Piccolomini, Argentine politician

  • María Gabriela Burgos Argentine politician

  • María Piccolomini, Argentine politician

  • Moussa Mara, former Prime Minister of Mali

  • Pablo Torello, Argentine politician

  • Soher El Sukaira, Argentine politician

  • Stjepan Mesic, former President of Croatia

  • Waldo Wolf, Argentine politician

  • Yves Leterme, former Prime Minister of Belgium

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