Our conference brings together a great group of researchers from around the globe. [table id=5 /]
About the conference
2021 is a unique time. Over a year into the pandemic, policy debates are focusing on a number of issues: the uneven rollout of vaccines, the dilemmas in dealing with the persistent virus, lessons from the crisis and building back better. While challenges persist in the Global North, the situation is much direr in the Global South. Here, countries continue to face fatal waves of infections without enough vaccine doses.
Under these circumstances, Southern scholars play a critical role in refocusing the debates on the policy alternatives for an equitable recovery from this crisis on a national, regional and global level. The goal is to contribute to the 2030 Agenda Decade of Action and propose new global priorities to counter the unequal progress across the SDGs. The conference will create an opportunity to harness the collective knowledge of our vast network to chart a path towards a recovery that leaves no one behind.
The COVID-19 pandemic is having a significant impact across the social, economic, environmental and institutional dimensions of sustainable development. It is making recovery prospects much more complex than in previous crises. In fact, the pandemic will not be “solved”, in the strict sense. Rather, solutions will represent reasonable compromise among various dimensions: technical, economic, political, environmental and social.
A critical concern among the Southern Voice network members is the fact that COVID-19 is increasing inequalities and exclusion across different dimensions of sustainable development. Recovery will not be an easy task. Policy decisions will need to consider how to use limited resources in a smart way.
The aim of Southern Voice’s conference is to seek solutions for an equitable recovery from the pandemic. We understand equity as an ideal state in which the pandemic does not exacerbate the existing inequalities. The crisis offers the opportunity to aid individuals and networks with resources and support for them to thrive. During the conference, we will proactively discuss how to promote an equitable recovery. We will pay particular attention to the role of think tanks from the Global South to foster transformative policies and rebalance power at multiple levels.
