WFEB’s mega event on World Health Day calls for solidarity and togetherness in the pandemic and beyond

Changing paradigms in a pandemic world: More than 2 million viewers from 100 countries attended global virtual summit that brought together stakeholders from all walks of life to discuss and identify new approaches for addressing the pandemic’s main challenges. Speakers commonly urged that tackling mental health issues continues to be a key priority

Brussels – 7 April 2021 – On the occasion of World Health Day, the Brussels-based World Forum for Ethics in Business hosted a global virtual summit themed “Changing Paradigms in a Pandemic World: How to regain trust? Health, Happiness & Ethics”.
WHO’s General Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Heads of State, Health Ministers, Pfizer’s India Managing Director and UEFA’S CSR Director were among the keynote speakers of this event that welcomed more than 150 speakers in dedicated keynote panels and in 25 in-depth workshop deliberations

The conference was opened with a message by WFEB founder and global humanitarian Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. ‘This World Health Day has more significance than ever before. Today when the whole world’s health is challenged like never before by the pandemic, the global community has to come together to fight the cause and find the cure‘, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s message goes. ‘Health has no origin but disease does. Disease occurs when the laws of nature are violated. We need to envision a new world that is physically, mentally & emotionally healthy, and spiritually blossomed. Yoga, breathing techniques and meditation help us keep the body healthy, the mind clear and the soul flourishing.‘

WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in his keynote statement ‘It has now been more than 14 months since I declared Covid-19 a global health emergency. In that time the pandemic has brought out the best and the worst in humanity. We have seen acts of incredible courage of health workers and from communities around the world. But the pandemic has also worsened inequalities in our societies. Vaccine equity is the challenge of our time. The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage, it is also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating.

Through dedicated keynote panel discussions and interactive workshops on different aspects of the pandemic’s impact, the summit brought together leading stakeholders from politics, business, academics and civil societies to challenge the status quo and seek answers for citizen’s to better navigate through the pandemic and the time to come. Speakers commonly emphasized that collaboration, solidarity and unity in the fight against Covid-19 are key elements for the global community and must be accelerated to move towards a better, fairer and more ethical tomorrow.

The conference also presented tools and techniques to address the mental health crisis and highlighted the need for scaling-up mental health efforts around the world.
Featuring a meditation lounge guided by The Art of Living’s International Director Swami Jyothirmayah in the conference break, the summit also provided a moment of relaxation to the audience.

This global summit was organized by the World Forum for Ethics in Business (WFEB), a registered public interest foundation based in Belgium. With this conference the World Forum for Ethics in Business wanted to provide a platform and unite experts from diverse backgrounds to share their ideas and learnings, to empower communities, and to seek ways for better collaboration.

Through dedicated programs at the European Parliament and collaborations with institutions such as FIFA, United Nations Geneva, Max Planck Institute, FC Union Berlin, Anti-Doping Norway, DPMA, EPO and the Technical University Munich, as well as through global leadership interventions, WFEB has been advocating and acting towards ethics, sustainability, good governance and shared value globally for 18 years. The World Forum for Ethics in Business holds a special consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations. WFEB was founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and is governed by a global Board of Directors. Further information on the World Forum for Ethics in Business is available on www.wfeb.org.

The recording of the conference proceedings remains available on http://wfeb.org/agenda and the conference speaker list and program on https://wfeb.org/pandemicworld

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