Commentary
International organizations that facilitate an exchange of ideas and data are a global good. However, when these organizations begin to dictate what citizens within a country can and cannot do, they have become something quite different. No self-respecting totalitarian dictatorship would ever allow such interference with their own rule, while no rational democracy would countenance outsourcing its governance to others. Enthusiasm for such an institution could only come from national leaders who are working for other interests, or capable of being coerced.
The Case of WHO and North Korea
North Korea (or the Peoples’ Democratic Republic of Korea), a dictatorship run by four generations of the Kim family and known for concentration camps and a habit of executing senior officials, has just commenced a 3-year term on the Executive Board of the World Health Organization (WHO). Nations from different regions of WHO take their turn, and it’s North Korea’s turn on behalf of the Southeast Asian Region. WHO does not pretend to be a bastion of democracy and human rights; the Director General (DG) of WHO was a former minister in a dictatorial government that is accused of human rights abuses. Saudi Arabia’s co-chair of WHO’s Working Group on the International Health Regulations (WGIHR) recently stated that greater restrictions on human rights are appropriate when WHO thinks it necessary. So North Korea holding such influence should is not something unusual. As WHO represents all of its 194 Member States, each country should have a turn of helping to run things, just as large countries like China and India should have a commensurate influence on its decisions….