Virtual Seminar: Bioethics and Disaster Ethics Across cultures: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic Disaster

 

Abstract

Developing resilience to disasters before they occur can save lives. Since 2010, Eubios Ethics Institute in cooperation with partner institutions including American University of Sovereign Nations (AUSN),Beşikzade Center for Medical Humanities (BETIM), UNESCO, Hiroshima Peace Culture Foundation and others have organised ten Youth Looking Beyond Disaster (LBD) Training Workshops across the world with 400 youth from 50 countries. In 2019 together with BETIM wit the wisdom of Dr. Hakan Ertin, we issues the Communique on Looking Beyond Disaster 2019. The participants at all LBD forums develop action projects promoted at making a difference in their communities. In order to imporve the resilience of each nation the programs are also linked to graduate degrees offered from the American University of Sovereign Nations (AUSN) as Masters or PhD degrees, Certificate courses (see http:/www.ausovereignnations.org). Since the start of the COVID pandemic, we have recognised this as another disaster, and one of unique global nature. Through the lives experiences, dialogue in many conferences, and hundreds of research papers, the intercultural and ethical, legal and social issues of the pandemic have been discussed. The World Emergency COVDI19 Pandemic Ethics (WeCope) Committee has also been formed and has released eight statements and reports to date. We need to work together to build a better and more resilient world, and the lessons are applicable for years to come. Disaster ethics continues to stimulate the development of bioethics.

Speaker and discussant: Prof. Dr. Darryl Macer

Darryl Macer is President of the American University of Sovereign Nations, and Professor of Bioethics and Biomedicine at AUSN, where he also serves as Provost. He is a world renown scholar who served from 2004 until early 2013 as UNESCO Regional Advisor for Social and Human Sciences in Asia and the Pacific.

He has coordinated global programmes on bioethics and critical thinking (including philosophy) education at university and school levels for three decades. Since 1990, he has been Director, Eubios Ethics Institute (New Zealand, Thailand and Japan). Dr. Macer is also Director of the International Peace and Development Ethics Centre and Peace Park at Kaeng Krachan, a Research Fellow at the Center for Ethics of Science and Technology, Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, and serves as Secretary of the Asian Bioethics Association.