ANALYSIS The pandemic has brought to light the invisible, the neglected, and the ignored, all of whom must remain visible in order to make GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ORDER the world a better place. BUILDING The texts in this publication shed light on the fragility of the global system. They dis- BACK BETTER cuss the effects of the pan- demic on vulnerable groups, as well as on their enjoyment A Call for Courage of human rights, and social and economic protection. Yvonne Bartmann and Salome Lienert October 2020 This pandemic is not the last crisis our world looks set to run into. To Build Back Better, we need to focus on preven- tion rather than response. GLOBAL AND REGIONAL ORDER BUILDING BACK BETTER A Call for Courage Contents BUILDING BACK BETTER: A CALL FOR COURAGE ....................... 2 ›BUILDING BACK BETTER‹ REQUIRES THE COURAGE TO RECOGNISE THE VALUE OF PUBLIC SECTOR WORK 4 Daniel Bertossa COMBATING POVERTY IN A WORLD WITH LIMITED RESOURCES 8 Olivier De Schutter BUILDING BACK BETTER IN AN INCREASINGLY DIGITAL WORLD 14 Torbjörn Fredriksson HUMAN RIGHTS PROMOTING PROCUREMENT – A CONCRETE MEANS TO BUILD BACK BETTER 17 Todd Howland and Juan Pablo Salinas GOVERNANCE OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND COVID-19: ANOTHER CHALLENGE OR AN OPPORTUNITY? 20 Rashid S. Kaukab FROM SHOCK, TO RESCUE, AND RECOVERY: USING EFFICIENT AND TRANSPARENT TRADE TO MOVE FORWARD 23 Gabrielle Marceau COURSE CORRECTION: SHIFTING THE ROLE OF THE STATE VIS-À-VIS MARKETS AND CORPORATIONS 28 Kinda Mohamadieh EXPLORING STRUCTURAL BARRIERS TO JUSTICE AND SUSTAINABILITY IN ECONOMIC SYSTEMS: THE EXAMPLE OF TRADE AND WTO TRANSFORMATION 32 Joachim Monkelbaan EFFECTS OF THE COVID-19 CRISIS ON INFORMAL WORKERS 37 Karin Pape REALISING RIGHTS: A RECIPE TO PROTECT PEOPLE AND PLANET 41 Benjamin Schachter WOMEN AND GIRLS SHOULD NOT FOOT THE BILL OF THE PANDEMIC: FIGHTING TAX AVOIDANCE TO PREVENT DEVASTATING FISCAL AUSTERITY MEASURES 43 Magdalena Sepúlveda BUILDING BACK BETTER IN AFRICA: THE ROLE OF TRADE 47 Lily Sommer BUILDING BACK BETTER: FACTORING IN MIGRANT WORKERS 52 Manuela Tomei CONCLUSION 55 Abbreviations �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� 56 FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG – BUILDING BACK BETTER BUILDING BACK BETTER: A CALL FOR COURAGE Prosperity and a dignified life for all humans around the policy advisors, and civil society at international level speak globe has never been easy to achieve. Five years after the of sustainable reconstruction, global cooperation, and col- global community agreed to »leave no one behind« in try- laboration. Building Back Better is a call of hope. The world ing to achieve sustainable development for all, a pandemic is still struggling to come to terms with the pandemic that hit the world. Before COVID-19, the world had been more has affected every corner of this Earth. To reconstruct and interconnected and interdependent than ever before, yet to build back a society requires resources and strength. But we were far from reaching a just and equal world. With the to Build Back Better requires yet another ingredient: cour- pandemic came national lockdowns, border closures, and age. It demands the courage to go beyond what is familiar rupture of supply chains, which put a sudden stop to the and what we already know, and to rebuild new structures. globalised engine of our daily lives. The world as we know Forging change requires valour and political will. And if the it ground to a halt, and only slowly is it starting to turn COVID-19 pandemic has taught us one thing, it is that we again. We are at a point in time when we can shape the fu- cannot ignore the need for change. ture. To change the world requires courage. We are calling for exactly that – the courage to use this global crisis to en- The pandemic has shed light on the weaknesses of the act fundamental reforms that will improve life for every world’s social and economic systems. It has become obvi- person on this planet. ous that changes are needed to avoid similar struggles and further collapses of social and financial systems when the The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the fragility of the next global crisis inevitably comes along. Reforms to inter- global system, highlighted inequalities, and left the most national policies, whether in the field of human rights, so- vulnerable groups exposed. It has shown solidarity on cial, trade or finance have been being discussed since long global, regional, and local levels both working and failing. before COVID-19 shattered the normal course of the world, It has affected the enjoyment of human rights, social and but we now need to ask what effect the pandemic has had economic protection, as well as global trade. There is a real on those processes and whether they should be rekindled risk that the progress made over the last few decades will and further stoked, or whether they have become obso- be permanently undone, but it might also offer the oppor- lete. Perhaps there are new ways that have emerged from tunity to improve past developments, in which »business the crises, pointing toward a better reform process to cre- as usual« hindered necessary structural reforms. The im- ate a more equal and better world for all. How can we go mediate aftermath of a crisis brings hunger for change and about achieving the structural changes needed? While the the hope of renewal. It is unfortunately not unusual, how- discussion of reform proposals in the pre COVID-19 world ever, that after the initial shock and the calls for reform, the generally took place in well-established policy cycles, a world slips back into the old routines. The appetite for re- much more interlinked, cross cutting approach is needed in form is suppressed by the yearning for the comforting cer- order to tackle the challenges of today’s world. tainty of the familiar. The challenge before us now is to en- sure that 2020 is the year when the call for structural re- FES Geneva has been working with experts from different forms is taken seriously, that words are followed by action. policy areas, namely in the fields of human rights, and so- Governments will need the courage to accept that some cial and trade policy, who have been committed to creat- decisions in the past might have been wrong or insuffi- ing a more equal and more sustainable world for many cient, and they need the courage to make the necessary years. The authors of the following 13 think pieces are changes. from diverse backgrounds working for international organ- isations, non-governmental organisations, and trade un- The holistic approach of »Building Back Better«, which first ions. They were asked to be courageous, innovative, and emerged some years ago in discussions on disaster recov- think outside boxes and boundaries. As such, all contribu- ery, has become the concept that has most resonated in tions are written in the authors’ personal capacity. They are terms of post COVID-19 reconstruction. The proposals that expressing their own views, not those of their organisation are being developed and discussed by decision-makers, or of FES Geneva. The aim of this publication is to compile 2 A Call for Courage expertise from these interlinked policy areas to contribute to the discussion on how to create a better future for all. It cannot offer the ultimate recipe for global prosperity and equality in the post COVID-19 world. While the hope is that it stimulates the appetite for discussion and reflection on how to be courageous, the publication also delineates concrete and possible avenues in different policy areas to- wards a world of prosperity and equality for all. Every think piece contains a number of policy recommendations by the author. These recommendations are possible ingredients for a future in which »Building Back Better« is a success and not another failed attempt. 3 FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG – BUILDING BACK BETTER ›BUILDING BACK BETTER‹ REQUIRES THE COURAGE TO RECOGNISE THE VALUE OF PUBLIC SECTOR WORK Daniel Bertossa The COVID-19 pandemic has brutally exposed the weakness- ket reform is that quality public services are not worth paying es in our current model of globalisation and neoliberal eco- for and, instead of investing in them, we should reform, out- nomics. In countries across the world, people have been left source and marketize them. These approaches avoid the po- asking: how could we have been so exposed and unprepared? litical task of valuing public sector work and the practical task of building quality public services. They abdicate this respon- How is it possible that after years of booming stock markets sibility with the false promise that the private sector will pro- and technological advances, even many wealthy countries vide more value and better services, run more efficiently and have struggled to keep their older members of society safe, for the same cost – or less! their economies running and their health services from col- lapsing? And if these are the countries whose example is to be emulated, what does it say about the development poli- COVID-19 LAYS BARE THE FALSE cies they have promoted for decades? PROMISES OF THE MARKET These lies have now been brutally exposed. In the UK the pri- THE DELIBERATE UNDERMINING vatised supply chain that provides personal protective equip- OF THE PUBLIC SECTOR ment (PPE) to the NHS has been implicated in the unneces- sary deaths of many health workers (Hall et al. 2020). Run by The root cause of too many of these problems is the slow, a complicated web of more than 11 outsourced procurement but deliberate hollowing out of public services, made possi- contracts, it was brought in to deliver efficiency savings. On- ble by a destructive narrative which has sought to undermine ly now can we see the true cost.