ARCHIVED WEBINAR - International Responsibilities and the Pandemic with Mark Malloch-Brown and Mami Mizutori

Date
Thursday 7 May 2020
Time
11.00am to 12.00 noon (BST)

Booking Details
Japan Society Members - Free 
Non-members - £20
Booking deadline: Thursday 7 May – 10.00am (BST) 

Continuing our series of webinars, Japan Society chairman, Bill Emmott, will be joined in discussion by Lord Malloch-Brown, whose international roles have included Deputy Secretary-General and Chief of Staff of the UN, and Foreign Office Minister for Africa & Asia in Gordon Brown’s cabinet, and Mami Mizutori, UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Given that the pandemic is a truly global crisis, what has been notably missing so far has been concerted international co-operation to deal with its consequences whether for health or economies. As the virus spreads deeper into developing countries with fragile health and social welfare systems, this absence promises to grow in importance.

Our panellists for this session each bring a keen understanding of the dangers of failing to act decisively and of the strengths and weaknesses of international organisations in promoting decisive action.

As Mami Mizutori eloquently wrote in her letter to the FT (21 April) ‘One type of risk can transform into another, exposing and exacerbating existing vulnerabilities. We see this with COVID-19: a biological hazard making clear the precarious systems upon which trade, food, energy, transportation and social safety nets rely.’

What is the likely disaster impact of Covid-19 across the world? What role can international institutions play in response? What can and should governments and companies in the UK and Japan do to support or promote that response?

Lord Mark Malloch-Brown PC KCMG served as Deputy Secretary-General and Chief of Staff of the UN under Kofi Annan. For six years before that he was Administrator of the UNDP, leading the UN's development efforts around the world. He was later Minister of State in the Foreign Office, covering Africa and Asia, and was a member of Gordon Brown's cabinet. Other positions have included Vice-President at the World Bank and the lead international in a political consulting firm. He also has served as Vice-Chairman of the World Economic Forum. He began his career as a journalist at The Economist.  

Lord Malloch-Brown is currently Chairman of SGO. He is on the Boards of Investec and Seplat, which are listed on the London as well as Johannesburg and Lagos stock markets respectively. He is also on the board of Kerogen, an oil and gas private equity fund. He is Co-chair of a new Global Commission on Business and Sustainable Development. He previously led FTI Consulting's EMEA practice.

Mami Mizutori is the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General (SRSG) for Disaster Risk Reduction, and head of the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, based in Geneva, Switzerland. She assumed her role on 1 March 2018.

The role of the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction is to support countries and stakeholders in the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction (2015-2030). The Special Representative ensures the strategic and operational coherence between disaster risk reduction, climate change and sustainable development agendas as well as the linkage with the UN Secretary-General’s prevention agenda and with humanitarian action.

Mami Mizutori served for twenty-seven years in various capacities in the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, including as Director of the Japan Information & Cultural Centre at the Japanese Embassy, London, Director of the National Security Policy Division, Director of the United Nations Policy Division, Director of the Status of US Forces Agreement Division, and Deputy Director of the Personnel Division.

Prior to joining the UN, she was Executive Director of the Sainsbury Institute for the Study of Japanese Arts and Cultures, University of East Anglia, UK, since 2011. She graduated in law from Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo and obtained a Diploma in International Studies from the Diplomatic School of Spain.