The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
COVID-19: countries, businesses must protect people as virus spreads, urges UN rights chief
As the COVID-19 coronavirus continues to spread globally, the UN’s top human rights official appealed on Friday to countries and businesses to put rights “front and centre” to protect their most vulnerable citizens.
Meanwhile, as record temperatures continued in the northern hemisphere, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) indicated that it was still too early to say whether the global epidemic might lead to a drop in greenhouse gas emissions.
“The High Commissioner (for Human Rights) says, ‘People who are already barely surviving economically may all too easily be pushed over the edge by measures being adopted to contain the virus,” said Liz Throssell, spokesperson from the Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR).
According to World Health Organization data on Thursday, the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 neared 100,000 worldwide, with some 3,300 deaths and more than 80 countries now affected.
Since the virus emerged in central China in December, WHO has urged countries repeatedly to adopt infection containment measures without delay, as these will give health services more time to prepare for a worst-case scenario. “This is not a drill…This is a time for pulling out all the stops,” Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General said on Thursday.
Echoing the need for swift action from all countries facing the global threat - based on her past experience as a medical doctor and as President of Chile - Ms. Bachelet also cautioned that Governments needed to be ready “to respond in a range of ways to unintended consequences of their actions aimed at the coronavirus. Businesses will also need to play a role, including responding with flexibility to the impact on their employees.”
The High Commissioner’s statement added: “We’ve got lockdowns, quarantines and other such measures to contain and combat the spread of COVID-19. They should always be carried out in strict accordance with human rights standards and in a way that is necessary and proportionate to the evaluated risk.”
The High Commissioner’s comments follow an earlier appeal at the Human Rights Council, now meeting in Geneva.
Then, as on Friday, she urged Member States to protect society’s most vulnerable citizens from the health threat posed by COVID-19, and also from any stigma faced by those who had contracted the respiratory disease.
The most vulnerable are those on low incomes, isolated rural populations, people with underlying health conditions, people with disabilities and older people living alone or in institutions, the High Commissioner explained.
“The High Commissioner is not speaking out about specific countries,” Ms. Throssell said. “What she’s doing is making a universal call to Governments to really consider the impact on economic and social rights by the steps they take – that’s why she’s saying it’s so important for human rights to be at the front and centre.”
Ms. Throssell added: “There are plans in different countries to tackle crises, but I think we all would agree it is somewhat unchartered. And that’s why she’s encouraging States to share information on good practices; steps that they have taken to mitigate, to alleviate the impacts, the effects of the steps they take; steps that are in many cases extremely necessary to combat, to contain COVID-19.”
In a related development, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said that although COVID-19 would likely have an impact on greenhouse gas emissions and global warming because of the expected global economic slowdown, it was too soon to say how great that impact might be.
What is clear is that “2020 has started out where 2019 left off, with record temperatures. It was the warmest January on record (in Europe),” said WMO spokesperson Clare Nullis, citing data released on Thursday by the Copernicus European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service. “Obviously, the impact on carbon dioxide emissions will depend on you know, the global economic slowdown as a result of the coronavirus,” Ms. Nullis added, noting that it was still “early days. A lot depends on…the repercussions on international transport.”
Any future assessment of the virus’s impact would have to drill down into data on global energy consumption, the WMO spokesperson explained.
“Any sort of depression in economic activity…reduction in electricity production from coal-powered plants, a reduction in transport, will make a difference,” Ms. Nullis said. “But we also need to look at efficiency gains; you know, if these plants are running at half-capacity, or if you’ve got planes flying which are a quarter full, you know, that’s not really going to make a big impact.”
- Wide shot: exterior, flag alley, Palais des Nations, United Nations Geneva.
- Wide shot: medium shot, Press room III, journalists, podium speakers, UN logo.
- Close-up: journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Liz Throssell, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The High Commissioner says, ‘People who are already barely surviving economically may all too easily be pushed over the edge by measures being adopted to contain the virus. Governments need to be ready to respond in a range of ways to unintended consequences of their actions aimed at the coronavirus. Businesses will also need to play a role, including responding with flexibility to the impact on their employees.’”
- Close-up: journalists writing notes, listening to press conference.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Liz Throssell, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “We’ve got lockdowns, quarantines and other such measures to contain and combat the spread of COVID-19. They should always be carried out in strict accordance with human rights standards and in a way that is necessary and proportionate to the evaluated risk.”
- Close-up: several pairs of hands typing on laptops.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Liz Throssell, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “The High Commissioner is not speaking out about specific countries, what she’s doing is making a universal call to Governments to really consider the impact on economic and social rights by the steps they take – that’s why she’s saying it’s so important for human rights to be at the front and centre.”
- Medium shot: bank of TV camera crews, man passing underneath, bending down.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Liz Throssell, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR): “There are plans in different countries to tackle crises, but I think we all would agree it is somewhat unchartered. And that’s why she’s encouraging States to share information on good practices; steps that they have taken to mitigate, to alleviate the impacts, the effects of the steps they take; steps that are in many cases extremely necessary to combat, to contain COVID-19.”
- Medium shot: journalists working on laptops, podium speakers with UN logo to rear.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “2020 has started out where 2019 left off, with record temperatures; January - it was the warmest January on record and a new report by the Copernicus European Union Copernicus Climate Change Service released yesterday said that Europe had the warmest winter on record.’”
- Medium shot: journalist looking down at laptop in centre of shot, other journalists behind.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Obviously, the impact on carbon dioxide emissions will depend on you know, the global economic slowdown as a result of the coronavirus. But it’s still, you know, it is still early days. A lot depends on, you know, the repercussions on international transport.”
- Medium shot: journalist writing on laptop, between two other journalists in front of shot, blurred.
- SOUNDBITE (EN) — Clare Nullis, spokesperson, World Meteorological Organization (WMO): “Any sort of depression in economic activity, you know, reduction in electricity production from coal-powered plants, a reduction in transport, will make a difference, but we also need to look at efficiency gains; you know, if these plants are running at half-capacity, or if you’ve got planes flying which are a quarter full, you know, that’s not really going to make a big impact.”
- Close-up: fingers and pen, handwriting on notepad.
- Medium shot: podium speakers in focus, top of drinks flask at bottom of shot, blurred.
- Medium shot: journalist hunched over laptop, typing.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNFPA , OCHA , UNOG
UN agencies offered a dire assessment on Tuesday about the global impact of deep cuts to grassroots humanitarian funding by the incoming US administration and reiterated calls for Washington to retain its position as a global aid leader.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNRWA
While West Bank camp is destroyed, UNRWA delivers bulk of aid in Gaza
Large swathes of Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank have been completely destroyed following a series of controlled detonations by the Israeli security forces (ISF), the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday raised the alarm about the growing human rights crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the UN bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurence and the head of UN Human Rights Myanmar team James Rodehaver, describedunprecedented levels of killing in 2024, four years since the coup.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO , UNRWA
The largest UN agency in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, UNRWA, said on Friday that its staff are still helping the people of Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem who depend on them “for their sheer survival”, a day after the Israeli parliament ban on its activities entered into force.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WFP , WHO
Goma: ‘Critical’ moment for population caught in crossfire – UN humanitarians
In eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), civilians caught up in heavy fighting face a “critical” 24 hours, with food and water running low and aid unable to enter, UN humanitarians warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
Nazi death camp survivor Ivan Lefkovits shared harrowing testimony of his experiences on Monday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, with a timeless message for present and future generations: “Don't be neutral, especially not towards human suffering."
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said it was “deeply concerned by the use of unlawful lethal force in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank”, as part of an ongoing Israeli military operation.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
“We are deeply alarmed at the heightened risk of an attack by the M23 armed group on Goma, the capital of North Kivu, in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo,” Ravina Shamdasani said.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNHCR
Intensifying hostilities in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo involving the non-state armed group M23 have caused further mass displacement in the mineral-rich region, with fears that the regional capital Goma could come under attack, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Aid is surging into Gaza “at scale” in line with the ceasefire agreement that has seen Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners released and families reunited, but massive needs remain across the devastated enclave, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
2
1
1
2
Edited News | WHO , OCHA , WMO
UN regrets US exit from global cooperation on health, climate change
UN agencies reacted with regret on Tuesday to the United States’ decisions to withdraw from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Paris Agreement on climate change.