World Affairs Council of Philadelphia

Greetings to you all, dear Lauren, Robert, members of the World Affairs Council of Philadelphia and all students participating in the Model UN Program.

I am pleased to join you today.

I welcome your focus on Chile this year through your "Beyond our Borders" series.

As you know, the country is going through a constitutional process, ratified in a referendum by 78% of the voters. This process is a response to the most intense social protests the country has seen in decades. It represents a historic opportunity to address some of the issues that have been central in them, including those aiming towards greater protection of social and economic rights, and the rights of indigenous peoples.

But social protests have not been confined to Chile. In the past few years, mass protests across the world have united impressive numbers of people to collectively express their grievances, their demands for change and their hopes for the future.

With that in mind, I thank you for the opportunity to discuss with you some of the most pressing global issues of our time.

I will tell you from the outset: I am a prisoner of hope.

I know very well that the challenges we face are grave. But I also know that together, we can address them.

Allow me to give you a few concrete ideas of how.

I will begin with an issue that lies at the core of almost all others.

The magnitude and scope of inequalities that have been exposed and exacerbated by COVID-19 are truly shocking – although not really surprising.

The human rights scars of this pandemic run deep.

COVID-19 has led to the first rise in extreme poverty in two decades: over 100 million people are already being pushed into extreme poverty. According to FAO, the number of people living with food insecurity rose to an unprecedented 2.38 billion people.

Vital gains for women's equality are being reversed.

And just last week, the International Labour Organization, ILO, highlighted how a "two-speed recovery between developed and developing nations threatens the global economy as a whole".

This great divergence is largely driven by the major differences in the roll-out of vaccinations and fiscal stimulus packages.

More than 80% of the doses administered globally had gone to high- and upper-middle income countries, even though they account for less than half of the world's population.

I cannot stress it enough: vaccines and medicines against COVID-19 must be considered as a global public good.

Around the world, many countries have implemented measures to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and alleviate inequalities.

Malawi, Peru, the Philippines, Thailand and the United States, for example, have introduced new cash transfers targeting those who are typically excluded from social assistance programmes, such as informal workers, most of them women, freelancers and the self-employed.

 

Nigeria and Rwanda prioritised women-headed households and persons with disabilities.

 

Spain has introduced the universal basic income and Argentina and Bolivia have implemented a tax on wealth to create a more adequate fiscal space to respond to the pandemic.

As the Secretary-General noted earlier this year, some reports indicate that there has been a $5 trillion surge in the wealth of the world's richest in 2020.

I echo his call for "governments to consider a solidarity or wealth tax on those who have profited during the pandemic, to reduce extreme inequalities."

We also encourage States and other actors to undertake human rights impact assessments and use disaggregated data in order to have a clear vision and understand who is being left behind.

Because many are.

The pandemic has exposed the systemic discrimination faced by many groups, including people of African descent. At the same time, global protests have created a window of opportunity to achieve real progress towards racial justice and equality.

My Office has been combatting racism and racial discrimination for decades.

Earlier this year, I published a Four-Point Agenda for Transformative Change for Racial Justice and Equality – focusing on Africans and people of African descent.

Its purpose is to end systemic racism, end impunity for violations by law enforcement officials, ensure the voices of people of African descent are heard, and repair the legacies of the past.

It is a comprehensive report, which was mandated by the Human Rights Council during a special session following the death of George Floyd.

Also this year, the Council established a new expert mechanism to advance racial justice in law enforcement; the General Assembly created the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent; and the world celebrated the first ever International Day for People of African Descent.

These are encouraging steps.

States have the primary responsibility to concretely advance the anti-racism agenda. But if we are to successfully dismantle systemic racism, everyone, including the private sector, universities and religious groups, also have a critical role to play.

Many businesses are taking steps in this direction, including specific measures towards diverse and inclusive recruitment practices, and to promote diversity within their supply and value chains.

But much more still needs to be done.

Existing processes of human rights due diligence need to be robustly implemented – with meaningful consultation with affected individuals and communities.

That is crucial to assess past and current human rights impacts, and take the appropriate mitigation measures. Where adverse impacts have occurred, businesses should provide for or cooperate in remediation through legitimate processes.

 

The tenth anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, celebrated last June, has been an opportunity to take stock of where we stand in this regard.

Still relatively few companies have in place specific policies and mechanisms to prevent and mitigate their negative impacts but there are, once again, reasons for hope.

The European Union, for example, is now working on a draft directive on mandatory human rights due diligence and corporate governance, which will be ready by the end of the year.

It will apply to all EU member states and impact other commercial partners.

In addition, many countries have now adopted National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights.

In 2015, Colombia was the first country in the Americas to launch such a National Action Plan. The US adopted a National Action on Responsible Business Conduct Business and Human Rights in 2016. Recently Secretary of State Blinken announced that a process of updating and revitalizing the National Action Plan would begin. Other countries have also adopted similar plans or are in the process of elaborating them.

These plans reflect not only the commitment from governments, but also from the private sector itself.

 

My office is very active in this area.

We engage with multilateral actors with global influence on business practices. That includes working closely with the ILO, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD. Both have now fully integrated business and human rights into their own instruments. We also work very closely with the UN Global Compact.

My Office is involved in a project on responsible business conduct in Latin America and the Caribbean, together with ILO and OECD. We are looking at replicating the same model in Sub-Saharan Africa.

We also engage directly with businesses. We have become partners of the International Employer Organization and the International Chamber of Commerce. And we communicate with individual companies in relation to specific situations or specific sectors. For instance, we discuss with tech companies, the human rights challenges they face and how to address them.

Dear colleagues,

Human rights also provide a critical guide, with concrete steps, to address challenges related to digital technologies.

First, we must safeguard everyone's rights to privacy and freedom of expression, as well as ensuring non-discrimination and promoting public participation.

Second, we must break silos and build coalitions across constituencies – fragmented discussions on the impact of technology are leading to inefficient and incoherent instruments.

Finally: we need these conversations to be truly inclusive – no effective response to the concerns raised by digital technologies will be identified if debates are confined to companies and Government offices.

Dear colleagues,

In the midst of all these challenges, we must never lose sight of interlinked environmental crises of pollution, climate change and biodiversity.

Once again, human rights must be part of the solution.

We have also seen encouraging new developments in this regard.

Just last month, the Human Rights Council created the mandate of a Special Rapporteur on climate change and recognized for the very first time the human right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment. We will support countries in their efforts to implement it.

Recent decisions by courts in France, Germany, Australia, and the Netherlands have highlighted both government and corporate duties to take urgent climate action.

New Zealand just adopted of a law requiring financial firms to report and act on climate-related risks.

And Fiji has also incorporated human rights considerations into its new climate change law.

I call on other countries to follow suit.

Understanding the connections between human rights and climate change, my Office has made related policy recommendations to the Human Rights Council and to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

We also advocate for human rights-based approaches to climate action at the ongoing COP 26 climate conference in Glasgow.

I emphasize the role played by youth and indigenous activists and human rights defenders.

The private sector is also key. Businesses can, for example, include climate change impacts in their human rights due diligence.

Dear friends,

From the pandemic, to racial injustice, to climate change, we are faced with challenges so great and so grave, it may feel overwhelming.

But the darkest hour comes before the dawn.

As you could see, we have the answers.

All of them involve cooperation and joint efforts.

I join the Secretary-General in his call in Our Common Agenda: "now is the time to re-embrace global solidarity and find new ways to work together for the common good."

I hope this spirit will guide our discussions.