Right On: Inequality and discrimination during COVID-19

Right On

Geneva Internet Platform

The Coronavirus crisis amplifies existing inequalities and discrimination and makes the battle of ‘leaving no one behind' all the more difficult.

While inequalities and discrimination know no borders and as such exist in different forms and across social contexts, the deepening inequality gaps brought about by COVID-19 have profound implications for fundamental human rights such as the right to health, right to education, right to work, and most importantly for some, the right to life. The consequences of many of these inequalities are already felt and will be felt in the foreseeable future. 

Fear and uncertainty about the pandemic have equally fuelled the so-called ‘Coronavirus stigma’ on the basis of racial, religious, and gender grounds, and laid bare, in particular, the vulnerability of those living in precarious situations and marginalised groups, including persons with disabilities, women and children, refugees and migrants.  

Our Wednesday ‘Right On’ web chat will reflect on the underlying implications of these challenges, key steps in combating inequalities in times of crisis, and ways to mitigate the effects of inequality and discrimination after the crisis.

Moderator

• Marc Limon, Executive Director, URG

Speakers

• Dr Hanna Kienzler, Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health & Social Medicine at King’s College London
• Dr Frans Viljoen, Director of the Centre for Human Rights at the Faculty of Law, University of Pretoria
• Amb. Rui Macieira, Permanent Representative of Portugal to the United Nations Office in Geneva
• Leilani Farha, United Nations special rapporteur on adequate housing
• Dr Joanna Bourke Martignoni, Senior Research Fellow at the Geneva Academy

Registration

To join the discussion, you need to register here.

‘Right On’: The Wednesday Web Chat

‘Right On’ is a new digital initiative – co-organized by the Geneva Academy, the Geneva Human Rights Platform, the Geneva Internet Platform, the DiploFoundation, the Universal Right Group, the Human Rights Centre at the University of Essex, as well as the Permanent Missions of Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands to the United Nations in Geneva  –  that will keep the human rights dialogue going during these COVID-19 times.

Every Wednesday at 15:00, experts and practitioners will discuss key human rights issues related to the current health crisis.

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