COVID-19 Impacts and Responses: The Role of the National Governments and International Organizations

Abstract

We report the results of an international survey of 856 respondents from 55 countries which was conducted between late March and mid-April 2020, on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the social protection policies on people’s lives and livelihood, their perception of the effectiveness of such policies, and their concerns in the context of other global challenges. Our findings indicate that most people believe that their national government is more responsible than international organizations in (mis-)handling of the pandemic crisis. Subsequently, in most countries the approval rating of the WHO’s performance is higher than the national government. However, there are significant discrepancies between countries, countries with stricter containment policies seem to enjoy more favorable approval from their citizens while the performance of WHO is considered better than the national government in places with less restrictive policies. We also find that climate change, public health, and education are at the top of the list of the concerns shared by the survey participants. This highlights the need for the international community to prepare a more comprehensive, inclusive, and coordinated response plan for dealing with upcoming climate change emergencies.