Day 10(1/12/18) *Geneva/WHO*
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| WHO executive conference room! |
So, after a lovely nap, we set off for the WHO which is only about a 5 minute walk from the centre where we're staying. As we entered, a girl on the trip told me that it looked like the ministry of magic(from Harry Potter); I could not agree more! Marble staircases and floors, beautiful artwork everywhere, people hustling to/from everywhere, high-security systems, and everyone wearing very fancy suits/business wear...definitely the type of place where I might imagine a movie set moving in for a little bit!
We were greeted by Doreen, our facilitator, who brought us to "the situation room"(they call it officially the strategic health operations centre), or the room where workers monitor epidemics that are in-progress. There were several TV screens and monitors, and webcams to converse with people around the world-that room apparently was modelled after the CDC's situation room, and, like the main entrance, also felt like it was part of a movie! In the situation room, we heard from Christian, a WHO spokesperson, who gave us a bit of information about the organisation, including:
-the WHO has 194 member states, 150 country offices, and 6 regional offices(one of which we'll be visiting in a few days in Copenhagen-WHO Euro!)
-they employ ~800 individuals
-like the CDC, WHO only investigates and brings help to a member state if the member state invites them
-if member states don't follow regulations, the WHO would rarely remove that member state, because doing so would mean that the citizens of that country would no longer have aid from the organisation. The goal is teamwork so as to gain the trust of each member state, rather than to impose opinions and "because I said so" mentality. Hmm...quite different from many US policies that go into place!
Speaking of differences from the US, I noticed quite a few today, and I'm sure I will as this trip continues. First of all, Doreen told us that"we're not here to represent our own individual views; our role is to represent our member states, and the leaders of each understand that too". This was great to hear since the current political climate in the US is one that most commonly is caught doing just the opposite, and so to hear this different type of mentality was very refreshing and hopeful....who knows, maybe I'll hide out at the WHO or a related place over here until the Trump presidency is over. I know that wouldn't solve anything, but it would be better for my sanity for sure! Another difference I noticed was the way in which the WHO treats its member states and how it differs from current US interactions with states and partner countries (I'm kind of comparing the WHO to the US government, not to the CDC in the situations in this paragraph...since these were the global headquarters and therefore they have power over several countries, much like the white house has power over several states and has much global power). Bullet point 4 above is where I noted this difference: the WHO doesn't "kick out" countries that don't comply to its regulations. Rather, it works with these countries to help them to understand the motives of the regulations, implications of not following them as related to tourism/financial results to that country, and to reduce the "us" vs. "them" mentality that often goes along with one governing head and its constituents. By adopting this framework, Christian said that it was easier for the WHO to get into countries to help diseased folks, and it also mostly prevents any suggestion of violence or threat to the WHO. I wonder if Mr.Trump might have a conversation with Christian...for the benefit of all of the people in the US and the world that he has offended and harmed during his presidency. Also, I wondered if this mentality translates to other European regulations, WHO-related or not, in regards to the criminal justice system: do arrested people tend to be seen as the "them", and the officers as "us", or is the goal more to understand both sides and find a productive way for that person to re-enter society without being a threat? (I suspect the latter, but I look forward to investigating this through my project!)
So, after Christian's talk and tour(in which he showed us the executive meeting room-where the world health meetings take place-quite an impressive room!) we heard a talk from a woman working on Polio. Like the CDC speaker, she also was incredibly passionate about her work :) She highlighted the fact that all polio deaths are preventable through vaccines (drops, that can be administered by non-medical professional volunteers, and cost less than $0.20 per dose), and that this disease is incredibly close to being eradicated. She said that through proper surveillance, strengthened vaccination systems, containment, and transition planning, it was very likely that polio could be gone forever...what a hopeful end to the day at WHO!
What does "transition planning" mean? Was what I wondered initially...and the answer is absolutely brilliant. (And I hope is something that also is true in the criminal justice system here and across Europe, but we'll see!). Essentially, transitional planning is the process of making sure that all of the potential that professionals have (professionals who soon will be unemployed once polio is eradicated) isn't wasted once the pandemic is resolved and their skill set is no longer needed in polio. So, this would be similar to a re-entry program in a prison system(I understand that the WHO is not a prison...quite the opposite, but I'm more getting at the idea that they don't waste potential resources and lives) where the time the prisoners spent doing daily tasks or in-prison labor isn't just put to waste; rather, the prisoners find jobs and become contributing, reformed, members of society even after their "time" is up in prison. So in the polio world, transitional planning is finding ways in which the involved professionals can go on to work with other epidemics, so as to strengthen efforts around those ones, rather than just putting them out of a job, which apparently happens often once epidemics are resolved!
I was thoroughly inspired after a great day at the WHO, and while we won't return to the building directly, we will be hearing from several WHO-affiliated speakers in the rest of our time in Geneva, and I'm really looking forward to that and to observing differences/similarities to the US way of thinking about public health! After a trip downtown with Nadia, Olivia, and Aiden, and a great few hours with my book (it has to be read by tomorrow...good thing I didn't procrastinate with reading it...oops, that's exactly what I did! 😬), I'm now quite tired and ready to greet my pillow:)
Goodnight!
-Anna
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| One of the WHO buildings |
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| Entrance to Executive Room |
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