In the context of a health emergency like the COVID-19 pandemic, the global availability of and access to vaccines are imperative. This research paper provides an analysis from the perspective of international political economy, of the financing of COVID-19 vaccines and of the market strategies adopted by some of the companies that developed them. It notes that the development of vaccines was supported by substantial public funding from countries that later received preferential access to those vaccines through advance purchases. Despite such public support, the vaccines were not deemed as public goods but remained under the control of their developers.

Read South Centre’s paper

Collective bargaining played a crucial role during the pandemic and can provide an effective means for employers and workers to tackle the new challenges that are shaking up the world of work.

Read the ILO article

Discussions took place with development cooperation donors from the OECD’s Development Assistance Committee (DAC) at the ITUC’s annual Trade Union – DAC Forum on 3 May.

Social protection is one of the key demands of working people for a new social contract and has been at the forefront of government responses to the COVID-19 crisis.

But social protection is facing huge financing gaps that will require the mobilisation of domestic resources coupled with support from development cooperation funds, which are still too low at only 2.7% of all aid funds in 2020.

During a high-level panel debate, ITUC General Secretary Sharan Burrow highlighted the cost effectiveness of social protection: “If you invest in social protection, you will have more than double the amount of the investment back in the mid-term and huge social returns.

Read the article of ITUC

Capital flight from the global South is immense, with widespread adverse effects. A new book proposes measures to curb, even reverse capital flight from Africa. It also offers pragmatic lessons for many developing countries.

Read the article by Jomo Kwame Sundaram

One single message on this 1 May 2022: there can be no lasting peace without social justice and there can be no social justice without peace!

Read the message of ITUC

Curbing capital flight from developing countries is long overdue. New sanctions show it can be done with the needed political will. Recent research also shows how to effectively stop capital flight.

Read the article by Jomo

Poverty reduction and fighting inequality do not follow the same logic, even in terms of hulman rights. It is important to correctly understand the policies of the Bretton Woods institutions.

Fight against inequalities | Meer

Francine Mestrum

Last week, the IMF approved the creation of the Resilience and Sustainability Trust (RST), which aims to channel up to $45 of the $650 billion of SDRs allocated by the IMF in August 2021. A new brief by Eurodad argues that the RST is an imperfect attempt to remedy the inequitable way in which SDRs have been distributed and takes stock of the limits and opportunities of rechannelling SDRs outside the IMF. In a joint CSOs letter, we also urged the IMF and the G20, to both allocate an additional US$2.5 trillion in SDRs and take several steps to reform the current and proposed systems for rechanneling them.

Read Eurodad’s report