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STORY: OHCHR / BACHELET COVID-19 HUMAN RIGHTS
TRT: 02:04
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 23 APRIL 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / FILE
FILE - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior
23 APRIL 2020, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Michelle Bachelet, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights:
“ The COVID-19 pandemic continues to challenge our societies and ourselves. There are many uncertainties, but we know one thing for sure: we are all in this together. This is a human crisis with human rights dimensions. To address it, we must place people -- and their rights -- front and centre. Today, the Secretary-General released a report that shows how human rights can guide us to build inclusive and effective response and recovery. The priority is to protect people’s lives. While the virus does not discriminate, its impacts do. The pandemic is a risk to us all, but has disproportionate effects on the health and livelihoods of some people and communities. Some of the most vulnerable in the face of this crisis are those already at risk, including those with no access to adequate housing or water and those subjected to discrimination on the basis of their race, gender or other grounds. It is vital to ensure that no one is left behind – the health of everyone depends on it. It is also important that our response to the pandemic is open, transparent and accountable – with the full and informed participation of all. And while emergency measures are helping to contain the spread of the disease, they should be temporary and proportional, protecting people and the rule of law. This is a global crisis - no country can beat this alone. The moment is for international solidarity. And, when we recover from this pandemic, as we will, we must be better than we were before. Earlier this year, the Secretary-General made a Call to Action to place human rights and dignity at the core of our work, including in times of crisis. His new report gives us concrete steps. By standing up for human rights, we can effectively respond to the crisis of today and build a more resilient and sustainable future. We are in this together. We’ll get through this together.”
Launching the Secretary-General’s report “We are all in this Together: Human Rights and COVID-19 Response and Recovery”, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet today (23 Apr) said the pandemic “is a human crisis with human rights dimensions” in which people’s right’s must be placed “front and center.”
Bachelet said, “while the virus does not discriminate, its impacts do. The pandemic is a risk to us all, but has disproportionate effects on the health and livelihoods of some people and communities. Some of the most vulnerable in the face of this crisis are those already at risk, including those with no access to adequate housing or water and those subjected to discrimination on the basis of their race, gender or other grounds.”
She said, “while the virus does not discriminate, its impacts do. The pandemic is a risk to us all, but has disproportionate effects on the health and livelihoods of some people and communities. Some of the most vulnerable in the face of this crisis are those already at risk, including those with no access to adequate housing or water and those subjected to discrimination on the basis of their race, gender or other grounds.”
Bachelet said it was “vital to ensure that no one is left behind” as “the health of everyone depends on it.” She said the response to the pandemic must be “open, transparent and accountable – with the full and informed participation of all.”
The High Commissioner stressed “emergency measures are helping to contain the spread of the disease, they should be temporary and proportional, protecting people and the rule of law.”
She said, “this is a global crisis - no country can beat this alone” and aded that “by standing up for human rights, we can effectively respond to the crisis of today and build a more resilient and sustainable future.”
