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.

Democracia Global is asking political leaders and international institutions to strengthen the UN system, the World Health Organization and the existing international structure by applying the principles of federalism and democracy worldwide.

The current coronavirus crisis requires global cooperation and solutions which the existing national/inter-national political system are incapable of delivering. Seven billion human beings live in a world globalized by the economy and technology, but divided into almost 200 national states which adopt measures with limited coordination and effectiveness. The COVID-19 pandemic shows each of them prioritizing their own vision and interests, causing unnecessary damage to the world economy and global society, and resulting in the loss of more than 550,000 human lives to date.

By definition, nation states are unable to deal with global issues. Their failures don’t only affect their own citizens, but stretch to encompass all the inhabitants of this small hyper-connected planet, damaging the global commons. Global coordination and policies are urgently needed to defend the global ecosystem and world public health, and to protect the world economy. While national sovereignty must continue to be respected, effective global decision making is also necessary to protect the welfare and survival of humanity as a whole.

To effectively tackle pandemics such as COVID-19, global level early warning systems, information sharing, delivery and enforcement of norms, management of transmission across borders and vaccine-treatment research is required. While the World Health Organization (WHO) is mandated to deliver these, it lacks funds and enforcement mechanisms. The current crisis demonstrates that the exsiting system is unprepared to tackle global pandemics, as well as issues such as antimicrobial resistance and global warming related emergencies.

Democracia Global’s petition urges national leaders and inter-national institutions to take lessons from the Coronavirus crisis and use them to enable a more integrated 21st Century political system, reinforcing regional institutions, reforming the United Nations and making each level of governance more representative and effective.

This could be done, for example, through the creation of a UN Parliamentary Assembly, strengthening the International Criminal Court, and building a World Health Organization better equipped to respond to large-scale, global health challenges.

This is not a proposal for a world state or government. National states are needed to manage national problems, but for an enhanced global governance system.

The coronavirus pandemic demonstrates how small the Earth is, how close we are to each other, and that the time for applying the principles of federalism and democracy on the global scale has come.

What you can do

You can join the many individuals, politicians, and civil society organizations that have already endorsed the Democracia Global petition by adding your name on Change.org