Frontline workers have borne the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic. The crisis has laid bare issues of gender equality and racial justice, and public participation. This online event, hosted by the New York Office of UN Human Rights, will showcase the contribution the heroes of the pandemic are making to achieving the rights of others and underline the fact that they have rights themselves.

Join us to hear from people working to make human rights a reality around the globe. The event includes personal testimony from health workers in Thailand and Guatemala, and women’s support network leaders in Nigeria and Egypt. It also features a mask-maker, an advocate for the elderly and refugees, an educator and a performer from Spain, Poland, Jamaica and the United States.

The event will begin with an opening address by UN Secretary-General António Guterres, followed by remarks by Carmelyn P. Malalis, Chair and Commissioner of the New York City Commission on Human Rights, and closing comments from Ilze Brands Kehris, UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights.

The event video will be available on-demand on UN Human Rights YouTube channel and webtv.un.org from 2:00 pm EST on December 10.