48th Session of the Human Rights CouncilDeepening inequalities exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic

Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights

28 September 2021

Vice President of the Council,
Distinguished panellists,
Excellencies,
Colleagues and Friends,

The magnitude and scope of inequalities that have been created and exacerbated by COVID-19 are truly shocking – although for many, they are not surprising.

Shortfalls in upholding and protecting human rights undermined the resilience of people and States, making them intensely vulnerable to this comprehensive medical, economic and social shock.

The human rights scars of this pandemic run deep – and they are growing deeper.

Extreme poverty and hunger are rising. COVID-19 has led to the first rise in extreme poverty in two decades: an additional 119 to 124 million people were pushed back into extreme poverty in 2020, and the number of people living with food insecurity rose by 318 million, according to FAO – amounting to an unprecedented 2.38 billion people.

Vital gains are being reversed – including for women's equality and the rights of many ethnic and religious minority communities and indigenous peoples.

Cracks in the social fabric of our societies are growing wider.

And the huge gaps between rich and poorer countries are becoming more desperate and more lethal.

We have got to learn the lessons of COVID-19. I welcome this discussion of the inequalities exacerbated by the pandemic, but I must emphasise that it should be more than a discussion: it must lead to powerful action.

Excellencies,

Gross inequalities within and between our countries have shaped the course of the pandemic, directing its impacts towards those least protected from harm.

When economic and fiscal policies ignore the needs and rights of those who are marginalised, fundamental rights – such as justice, quality education, decent housing and decent work – are neglected. Efforts to ensure equality for all are undercut by chronic underinvestment in public services and work to promote non-discrimination. And social cohesion and hope become the rarest commodities of all.

We can and we must do better. States have committed to upholding and advancing human rights, including through ratification of the human rights treaties and adoption of the 2030 Agenda. The pandemic has exposed many failures to live up to those commitments – and it has demonstrated the terrible economic, social, human rights and conflict-related effects of those failures.

So for me, lesson one of COVID-19 is that embedding human rights in all decision making processes make us safer and stronger. They are not only nice to have – they are a pre-condition to build inclusive, stable and sustainable economies as well as societies. We must ensure that States’ economic recovery plans are built on the bedrock of human rights and in meaningful consultation with civil society. Moreover, responsible businesses conduct must be an integral part of building back better.

There must be steps to uphold universal health care, universal social protections and other fundamental rights to protect societies from harm, and make all communities more resilient.

We need measures that advance everyone's right to participate fully in public affairs; steps that ensure the widest possible space for civic freedoms; and policies that dismantle and eradicate all forms of discrimination create more cohesive communities, which benefit from the full contributions of everyone.

Lesson two: we need joint action. To act effectively, States must act together, in solidarity, to fairly distribute vaccines and help each other combat the impacts of COVID-19.

Today, hospitals in some regions have essentially collapsed, with patients unable to find the care they need, and oxygen almost completely unavailable. A crisis of vaccine inequity continues to drive deeper divides into the heart of the international community.

Just as pre-existing inequalities made States and communities vulnerable to contagion, and just as pre-existing failures to ensure social protections exposed people to the worst impact of the pandemic's socio-economic devastation, so inequality in access to vaccines is creating setbacks to development and to human rights around the world – with potentially massive and longlasting consequences.

We must act together because it is right to do so – and because it is in our interest to do so.

Universal access to COVID-19 vaccines will curb viral mutations, helping to preserve everyone from the possibility that a new mutation will manage to overcome the vaccine's protective effect.

Universal recovery from COVID will place the world closer to fulfilment of the 2030 Agenda – for the benefit of everyone, in countries rich and poor.

The UN stands for leaving no one behind – helping all States to transform the economic, political and social paradigms that have fuelled this lack of resilience. My Office will continue working to maximize the force of our partnerships across the UN system – and well beyond – to ensure that human rights and sustainability are at the heart of efforts to respond to and recover from the pandemic.

I am certain that our very distinguished panellists will bring many insights into the factors that have driven the pandemic's devastating harms, and measures that can be taken to resolve them. What is needed now is action.

Thank you Madam Vice President.