UN rights body supports WHO's leading role

The United Nations Human Rights Council adopted on Friday a President's Statement on human rights implications of the COVID-19.

The Statement expressed concerns over the loss of life and livelihoods and the disruption to economies and societies by the COVID-19 pandemic, and its negative impact on human rights.

The pandemic, the Statement emphasizes, can only be countered effectively through international cooperation, unity, solidarity and collective action, based on a multilateral approach and strong international institutions.

The Statement reaffirms the fundamental role of the United Nations system in coordinating the global response to control and contain the spread of COVID-19 and in supporting Member States, and acknowledges the crucial leading role played by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Human Rights Council is deeply concerned about stigmatization, xenophobia, racism and discrimination surfacing during the pandemic, stressing the need to combat it, according to the Statement.

The Statement underlines the importance of timely, equitable and unhindered access to medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, and other health products and technologies necessary to ensure an adequate and effective response to the pandemic, and calls for urgent removal of unjustified obstacles to these efforts.

This is the first official document on the human rights implication of the COVID-19 adopted by the Human Rights Council, which has received broad support of Members and Observer States of the Council and reflected the common aspiration of the international community.