Category: Human Rights

Michelle Bachelet said humanitarian exemptions to sanctions measures should be authorized for essential medical equipment and supplies to avoid the collapse of any national healthcare system.  “At this crucial time, both for global public health reasons, and to support the rights and lives of millions of people in these countries, sectoral sanctions should be eased or suspended. In a context of global pandemic, impeding… Read More

Lindsay Lee, a WHO Technical Officer who works on issues related to people with disabilities, was speaking during a Q&A the UN health agency hosted on its Twitter account on Thursday.  “What worries me perhaps more than anything is just the existing barriers that people with disabilities face.   I can speak for this myself, personally”, she said.    Ms. Lee, who uses a wheelchair, explained… Read More

Michelle Bachelet was addressing the Human Rights Council as members met to debate progress since the launch of the International Decade for People of African Descent in 2014.  “Like COVID-19, racism and xenophobia are contagious killers”, she said.  “In the current context, we, at this Council, need to come together and work for the common good by maintaining physical distances… Read More

According to Fernand de Varennes, this is not only necessary for inclusive, quality education but also to respect the human rights of all children. The Special Rapporteur said that: “Education in a minority’s mother tongue, combined with quality teaching of the official language, is more cost-effective in the long term; reduces dropout rates; leads to noticeably better academic results, particularly… Read More

Two-and-a-half years after hundreds of thousands of mainly Muslim ethnic Rohingya fled a campaign of State-led violence, Yanghee Lee said it was no longer enough for the international community to simply monitor grave abuses happening there. In particular, the Special Rapporteur urged the UN Security Council in New York to establish an international tribunal “to adjudicate the crimes against humanity… Read More

The UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage, a multi-country initiative to help protect the rights of millions of girls, was launched in 2016 with the involvement of families, educators, health providers, governments, as well as religious and community leaders, with the ambitious aim of ending the practice by 2030.  And it will be renewed for an additional thre years, according… Read More

Liz Throssell, spokesperson in the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR), said rights chief Michelle Bachelet, had noted “people who are already barely surviving economically, may all too easily be pushed over the edge by measures being adopted to contain the virus.”  Carbon emissions drop?  Meanwhile, as record temperatures continued in the northern hemisphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicated that it was still… Read More

“Prevention is an important and necessary tool but it will only be effective when it is practised in a way that protects and affirms rights”, Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, UN Special Rapporteur on the protection and promotion of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, said when presenting her latest report to the Human Rights Council. While recognising the global… Read More

“Defenders in conflict settings are courageous men and women who provide emergency relief, ensure access to civilians and document civilian casualties and violations of international law”, said Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. “In post-conflict settings, they may help claiming back the homes of displaced people and challenge impunity”, he continued. “Some are children… Read More