The Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy (AHCD) and the Global Health Centre (GHC) are pleased to support the inaugural Geneva Debate, an initiative promoted by the students of the Graduate Institute. The spirit of the Geneva Debate is to spark off youth ideas about the most pressing issues of multilateralism and collective challenges. The first event will take place on 26 May at 18.00 in a hybrid format, and will debate the motion ‘Should states make the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory?’.

Ahead of the forthcoming Debate, AHCD and GHC have organised a fireside chat about the challenges that increasingly tie global health regulation and democratic practices. In this conversation, Prof. Suerie Moon, Co-Director of the Global Health Centre, and Prof. Shalini Randeria, Director of the Albert Hirschman Centre on Democracy, discuss the political, sanitary, and geo-strategic implications of the vaccine passport as a catalyst to allow for global mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

LISTEN ALSO to the podcast episode with Shalini Randeria and Suerie Moon on “How to democratize vaccine access”.