About the event

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating effect on vulnerable groups and societies and on a range of fundamental human rights in the UNECE region. The reasons for existing and newly formed vulnerabilities are, however, not new. Their root causes are entrenched in systems, policies, structures and attitudes that allow inequalities and discrimination to persist.  The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed these systemic patterns of neglect, revealing gaps in states’ fulfilment of their existing human rights obligations and deep-rooted challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has provided some with a pretext to silence dissent and pass emergency legislation with limited democratic control that risk having longer-term effects on our societies. Depending on how states address this crisis, inequalities could become even more pronounced, undermining the promise of the 2030 Agenda “to leave no-one behind”.

The side event ‘Sustainable Recovery: Delivering on both Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda in the UNECE Region’ aims to concretise how sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic can deliver on both human rights and the 2030 Agenda in the UNECE Region. The following key questions will be explored:

  • How can we conceptualise a human rights-based sustainable recovery which builds on both states human rights obligations and SDG commitments in recovery programmes and measures?
  • How do we ensure that the principle of leaving no-one behind is entrenched in Covid-19 recovery strategies and plans, drawing on human rights recommendations and disaggregated data? How can we produce this disaggregated data for generating evidence-based policies and measures?
  • How can local authorities be involved to ensure their vulnerable residents benefit from the recovery and development plans?
  • How can national human rights institutions (NHRIs), United Nations agencies, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), and other stakeholders assist or complement, including in helping to make the planning and delivery more inclusive and human-rights based?

Speakers will include representatives from member states in the UNECE region, including a local authority from a UNECE member state; regional and international human rights bodies; national human rights institutions; and representatives from vulnerable groups.

 

Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN in Geneva, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) , the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA)