Summary

The present report contains a brief account of the activities undertaken by the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, since she assumed the functions of the role on 1 August 2020, and identifies the priority themes for her work in the coming years.

The main approach of the Special Rapporteur will be to examine the understanding of coloniality and racism, their impact on the right to health and how to move forward to substantive equality. In the report, she argues that substantive equality as a goal allows for the addressing of structural and indirect discrimination and for the identification and elimination of the power dynamics that have perpetuated the systems and patterns of privilege and disadvantage that outlived formal colonialism. To achieve substantive equality in the realization of the right to health, laws and policies should address the intersectional nature of discrimination, namely the lived experiences of those who experience discrimination on multiple grounds. In particular, the Special Rapporteur plans to look into the interrelated and entrenched obstacles operating at different levels that stand between individuals and their enjoyment of sexual and reproductive health rights.

The present report includes seven priority themes that will be elaborated throughout the tenure of the mandate holder and also contains two additional issues that will be examined further.