Photo: RNZAvowed multilateralists Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Helen Clark will lead a World Health Organization (WHO) panel scrutinising the global response to the Covid-19 pandemic just as international institutions are under fire. Johnson Sirleaf, 81, a Liberian-born, U.S.-educated economist, served 12 years as her West African country's leader, a period that included the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak that killed thousands. In a March BBC editorial, Johnson Sirleaf called for solidarity against Covid-19 while criticising early lapses by states. Clark, New Zealand's leader from 1999 to 2008, lost out four years ago to Antonio Guterres to lead the UN. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called them "strong-minded, independent leaders", aiming to underscore their freedom in assessing his agency's and governments' Covid-19 responses.

Source: Otago Daily Times July 09, 2020 17:26 UTC