Nigeria’s former Ngozi Okonjo Iweala has said that the World Trade Organisation (WTO) could have a vital role in the process of distributing an effective coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine.
She underscored the role of the global trade body in Geneva at a reception held in her honour by the Nigerian Permanent Mission to the United Nations (UN), while appealing for global support for her candidature as the race for the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General position enters the election phase.
“When vaccines and therapeutic medicine are produced, the WTO should be able to facilitate accessibility and equitable distribution to all member nations.
“To this end, trade has to be a strong recovery out of the global recession. And that makes a multilateral trading system part of the solution,” she said.