UN meeting: human rights-based recovery to COVID-19 pandemic

GENEVA (11 January 2021) – The third intersessional meeting on human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, mandated by the Human Rights Council, will take place virtually on Thursday 14 January, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. CET, and will be webcast live. The meeting will focus on the theme “Building back better: Integrating human rights in sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic”.

A high-profile group of experts from Member States, United Nations and civil society will meet under the chairpersonship of Ambassador Sek Wannamethee of Thailand.

Speakers at the meeting include:

• Sek Wannamethee, Ambassador of Thailand to the United Nations
• Keva Lorraine Bain , Vice President of the Human Rights Council and Permanent Representative of the Bahamas to UNOG
• Ilze Brands Kehris, Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights
• K. K. Shailaja, Minister of Health and Social Welfare of Kerala State, India
• Dominique Day, Chair of the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent
• Carolina Ferreira, Chief Advisor, Uruguayan Agency for International Cooperation
• Tauriq Jenkins and Francina Nkosi, C19 People’s Coalition, South Africa
• Francoise Jacob, UN Resident Coordinator in Serbia

Focusing on the implementation of SDG 10 on reduced inequalities and SDG 16 on peace, justice and strong institutions, the objective of the meeting is to share good practices and country-level examples on human rights-based recovery measures that address inequalities and structural discrimination, including based on gender, race and ethnicity. The critical role of civil society and other stakeholders in shaping sustainable COVID- 19 response policies will also be discussed by the participants.

For further details, please visit the webpage of the meeting. The meeting will be webcast live.

BACKGROUND:

In June 2020, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 43/19 on the promotion and protection of human rights and the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The resolution called for three half-day intersessional meetings for dialogue and cooperation on human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development to be held in 2021, 2022 and 2023. The first of the three half-day meetings will be held on 14 January 2021, under the theme “Building back better: Integrating human rights in sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic”.

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