Covid-19 has revealed that pandemics are multidimensional crises, threatening public health, societal security and the global economy and laying bare enduring tensions between global solidarity and national security aims.

Norway has garnered international attention for its Covid-19 response. With the national outbreak now “under control”, Norway has pledged unprecedented financial support to global efforts to develop a vaccine, and is experimenting with digital innovations, such as contact tracing apps. What underlying logics, interests and evidence have fed into the Norwegian response? How have national authorities dealt with uncertainty and limited knowledge about the novel coronavirus? What relevance do experiences of one of the world’s richest countries have for the world’s poorest countries now facing their own outbreaks?

In this Global Health Unpacked webinar, Frode Forland, Specialist Director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health, will provide insights into the Norwegian response, as well as Norwegian cooperation with multilateral and bilateral partners. The webinar concludes a one-week intensive course on "The Politics of Pandemics" and will include a Q&A session led by masters students from the Centre for Development and the Environment, the Institute of Health and Society and Department of Political Science at the University of Oslo.

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