The writer is a former ambassador to the US, UK and UN.
ONE of the key political issues in the global debate today is the steady erosion of people’s trust in governments across the world. More than evident in the pre-pandemic era this came into sharper relief after Covid-19 struck. The issue of trust was in the spotlight when handling of the coronavirus crisis was assessed and it was found that where people had greater trust in their government, they listened to health advisories and complied with restrictions. This enabled authorities to manage the crisis better. The reverse held true in countries where trust was low, which compromised the government’s ability to tackle the disease.