On 9 March, 2021, IKV Secretary General Assoc. Prof. Çiğdem Nas participated in an online seminar entitled “A Year of the Pandemic: Vaccine, Psychology and Governance” organised by Istanbul Policy Center (IPC) within the scope of “Pandemic and Society” webinar series. In the webinar, moderated by Mercator-IPC Fellowship Program Coordinator Pelin Oğuz, Sabancı University Vice Rector Cem Güneri, Nebi Sümer from Sabancı University Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences as well as Prof. Selim Badur, retired lecturer from Istanbul University Medical Faculty delivered presentations along with IKV Secretary General Nas. 

Assessing the challenges facing the EU and international organisations since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, Assoc. Prof. Nas stated that despite being caught unprepared for a pandemic the EU started to take measures rapidly as of March 2020. IKV Secretary General noted that health policies are not among the supranational powers of the EU, and that the authority in this field is at the level of the Member States. Nevertheless, Assoc. Prof indicated that important steps such as coordinating the EU's member states, joint purchase of necessary medical equipment, opening green lines for fast delivery of essential goods such as food and medicine, providing support to Member States for short time work allowance and establishing a 750 billion euro recovery fund were taken.

To watch the webinar held in Turkish, please click here.