Abstract
Multilateral organizations, such as the World Health Organization (WHO), play a key role in managing health emergencies during crises. During the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO achieved significant progress by supporting countries with technical assistance, guidelines, and essential resources. As well as providing technical guidance, sharing information, and coordinating among member states. This experience highlighted the importance of WHO in tackling global public health problems and showed how multilateral collaboration can help address complex challenges. Moreover, risk and crisis communication proved to be a critical part of WHO’s response, ensuring that clear and timely information reached the public and stakeholders. Despite these efforts, multilateral organizations faced several challenges in their emergency response during COVID-19. These included issues related to financial constraints, management complexities, political challenges, and concerns about credibility and trust. This research aims to explore WHO’s crisis management during the COVID-19 pandemic, identify areas for improvement, and develop strategies to enhance credibility and communication of the organization with funding challenges and social media driven dynamics. A qualitative research study is conducted using a case study approach focused on WHO’s response during the pandemic during the period from 2020 to 2024. The research findings revealed both strengths and weaknesses in WHO’s crisis management and emergency response. Emphasizing the need for a clear response strategy and effective communication, while also recognizing the internal and external challenges WHO is facing. Providing lessons from the pandemic to highlight areas that require improvement for robust emergency management and enhanced future emergency responses.
School
School of Global Affairs and Public Policy
Department
Public Policy & Administration Department
Degree Name
MA in Public Administration
Graduation Date
Fall 2025
Submission Date
9-18-2025
First Advisor
Ghada Barsoum
Committee Member 1
Shahjahan Bhuiyan
Committee Member 2
Mohamed Elkaramany
Extent
109 p.
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Institutional Review Board (IRB) Approval
Approval has been obtained for this item
Disclosure of AI Use
Translation; No use of AI
Recommended Citation
APA Citation
Hamada, A. H.
(2025).Multilateral Organizations and Health Emergency Management During Crisis: The Case Study of The World Health Organization During Covid-19 Pandemic [Master's Thesis, the American University in Cairo]. AUC Knowledge Fountain.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2619
MLA Citation
Hamada, Aya Helmy. Multilateral Organizations and Health Emergency Management During Crisis: The Case Study of The World Health Organization During Covid-19 Pandemic. 2025. American University in Cairo, Master's Thesis. AUC Knowledge Fountain.
https://fount.aucegypt.edu/etds/2619
Included in
Emergency and Disaster Management Commons, Other Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons, Public Administration Commons