AFTERNOON - Human Rights Council Discusses the Human Rights Implications of and Key Challenges in Universal Access to Coronavirus Disease Vaccines
Concludes Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict
The Human Rights Council this afternoon began an interactive dialogue on the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on the human rights implications of, and good practices and key challenges in, affordable, timely, equitable and universal access to, and distribution of, quality, safe, efficacious and affordable coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccines, and the impact on the right to everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. It also concluded its interactive dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.
Peggy Hicks, Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, presenting the report of the High Commissioner, said it was three years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and while countries with high vaccine rates had lifted restrictions and re-opened, it remained a global emergency. Sustaining a global response was key. The pace at which a vaccine was developed was unprecedented, but the world had failed to deliver them in an equitable manner, disregarding international obligations, in particular with regard to States’ duties and international obligations. More than 600,000 deaths could have been prevented if all countries had been able to reach the World Health Organization vaccination target by the end of 2021. This failure was tragic and profoundly immoral.
Ms. Hicks said international cooperation needed to be deepened, in line with human rights standards: international assistance and cooperation between countries were crucial to ensure that all knowledge and technology related to vaccines were treated as a global public good, and that treatment was available for all. Addressing global public health objectives in an interconnected world went beyond national interests. If the international community was to respond effectively to future pandemics, it needed to change the approach. Stronger legal frameworks were needed for vaccine distribution anchored in human rights. Any prospective pandemic treaty needed to provide for a well-coordinated global approach to the development and distribution of vaccines, with a greater and sustained investment in human rights, and with a renewed commitment by the international community.
In the ensuing discussion, speakers expressed deep concern for the inequitable access to vaccines and medicines in many low- and middle-income countries. COVID-19 had demonstrated that limited access to vaccines had harmful consequences for combatting new and existing infectious diseases and for preventing others from re-emerging. Going forward, it would be important to assist countries in applying an intersectional human rights approach when determining priority groups for vaccination within their national plans and strategies. To a large extent, it was necessary to remove all barriers to access COVID-19 vaccines because national strategies should be based on population needs. National policies should be human rights-based, including for immunisation. Building resilient and robust health systems must be high on the global agenda.
Speaking in the discussion were European Union, Netherlands on behalf of a group of countries, Norway on behalf of a group of countries, Côte d'Ivoire on behalf of the Group of African States, Timor-Leste on behalf of a group of countries, Ecuador on behalf of a group of countries, Bahamas on behalf of a group of countries, Chad on behalf of a group of countries, Ecuador, Tunisia, Germany, Portugal, Bahrain, France, United States, Paraguay, United Arab Emirates, China, Costa Rica, Indonesia, Russian Federation, Morocco, India, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Iraq, Togo, Armenia, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Egypt, United Kingdom, Argentina, Malaysia, South Africa, Maldives, Spain, Sudan, Uganda, Mauritius, Georgia, Senegal, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malawi, Mauritania, Namibia, Brazil, Azerbaijan, Bolivia, and Cuba.
At the beginning of the meeting, the Council concluded its interactive dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict. The beginning of the dialogue can be seen here.
Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for children and armed conflict, in concluding remarks, said reintegration programmes needed to be holistic. It was important to ensure that children were victims and not perpetrators. The age of the child needed to be respected; everyone under the age of 18 needed to be treated as a child. Ms. Gamba said there needed to be priorities, including supporting national strategies, rolling out the technical guidance, raising awareness, and signing and ratifying the instruments, including the Safe Schools Principles.
In the dialogue, speakers shared the deep concern expressed by the Special Representative on the situation of thousands of children who had to endure horrific conditions in conflict zones, especially violations committed relating to the recruitment, killing, maiming and abduction of children as well as sexual violence against girls and boys. Children should neither be involved in armed conflicts nor become victims of them. All Member States, United Nations entities and other parties concerned should renew their collective will and ensure concrete international efforts that would effectively protect children in conflict-ridden countries. All States should sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict: the international community must protect children and their ability to grow up in a safe environment free of violence.
Speaking in the discussion were Armenia, Egypt, United Kingdom, Malaysia, South Africa, Sudan, South Sudan, Kazakhstan, Malta, Georgia, Philippines, Algeria, Mozambique, Afghanistan, Malawi, Namibia, Yemen, State of Palestine, Azerbaijan, Romania, Panama, Syrian Arab Republic, Benin, Ukraine, Pakistan, Paraguay, Greece, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, Republic of Moldova, Iran, Chad, Spain, Cuba, Italy, Tunisia, and Niger.
Also speaking were World Federation of Ukrainian Women's Organizations, Jameh Ehyagaran Teb Sonnati Va Salamat Iranian, Promotion du Développement Economique et Social, Institute for NGO Research, Human Rights Advocates, International Catholic Child Bureau, Defence for Children International, Colombia Commission of Jurists, Conscience and Peace Tax International, and Association Thendral.
Speaking in right of reply at the end of the meeting were Indonesia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Israel, China, and Belarus.
The webcast of the Human Rights Council meetings can be found here. All meeting summaries can be found here. Documents and reports related to the Human Rights Council’s fifty-second regular session can be found here.
The next meeting of the Council will be at 10 a.m. on Friday, 17 March, when it will conclude the interactive dialogue on the High Commissioner’s report on access to COVID-19 vaccines, followed by the presentation of reports and the general debate on agenda item 3 on the promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development.
Interactive Dialogue with the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Children and Armed Conflict
The interactive dialogue with Virginia Gamba, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, started in the previous meeting and a summary can be found here.
Discussion
In the discussion, speakers shared the deep concern expressed by the Special Representative on the situation of thousands of children who had to endure horrific conditions in conflict zones, especially violations committed relating to the recruitment, killing, maiming and abduction of children as well as sexual violence against girls and boys. Children should neither be involved in armed conflicts nor become victims of them. All Member States, United Nations entities and other parties concerned should renew their collective will and ensure concrete international efforts that would effectively protect children in conflict-ridden countries. The number of grave violations committed against children was alarming. The dramatic rise of conflict-related sexual violence against children globally was a scourge which could not be ignored.
Some speakers said the current global climate was characterised by protracted and new conflict situations, which adversely affected vulnerable groups. When civil tensions rose, children became secondary victims. All States should sign and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict: the international community must protect children and ensure their ability to grow up in a safe environment free of violence. The training of all stakeholders involved in child protection was of vital importance: the various recommendations in the report provided important benchmarks which, if implemented, would significantly strengthen protections for children. Actions could also be taken at the national and local levels.
Effectively addressing the scourge of conflict could only be done by adhering and living up to international and national commitments: all parties must comply with obligations under international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law.
Some speakers commended the United Nations Security Council and its relevant subsidiary organs for their continued efforts to help the Special Representative deliver on her child protection mandate. Their work in data collection and verification contributed significantly to reporting on violations against children in armed conflict and monitoring of implementations plans, which would hopefully serve as a deterrence. It was thus important that sufficient resources were provided to enable peacekeeping missions to effectively achieve the child protection mandate.
One speaker asked the Special Representative for an update on the situation of children in Ukraine, Ethiopia and Mozambique, and the work her office was doing to support children in those countries. Another speaker asked how the various United Nations mechanisms, including those in Geneva and New York, could complement each other and strengthen efforts in seeking accountability for children affected by conflict. How could Member States best support children after their evacuation from conflict zones? How could actors best reach out to children with disabilities in marginalised communities to ensure that their views and needs were taken into account in conflict situations?
Intermediate Remarks
VIRGINIA GAMBA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, said it was important to encourage signatures for the Safe Schools Declaration. This document should be used to liberate schools which had been occupied. Member States should criminalise attacks against schools in their legislation. Collaboration between her office and the International Criminal Court had been sustained. In 2022, at the General Assembly, Ms. Gamba said she had made a case for the body to initiate a United Nations conference on children in armed conflict, to allow the alignment of one single global framework on children in armed conflict.
Ms. Gamba said her office was working in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund and the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on a technical guidance note. It was important to maintain strong partnerships with civil society and academia and this was a priority of the Special Representative.
Grave violations against children in Ukraine had been verified and had been prevalent in 2022. Ms. Gamba said she had urged all parties in Ukraine to fulfil their obligations in line with child rights and international humanitarian law and ensure that the best interests of children were upheld. All cases were being examined by her office, which continued to exchange information regularly with the Children in Armed Conflict Working Group in Ukraine to provide assistance.
Ms. Gamba called on Member States to fund and deploy dedicated capacities at the field level, including mental health and psychosocial support. States should engage with countries on the children in armed conflict agenda to ensure the delivery of services for children.
Discussion
Continuing the discussion, some speakers said Member States should take all necessary measures to prevent the involvement of children in armed conflict. Children around the world remained disproportionally affected by armed conflicts, forced to experience intolerable levels of violence, deprived of their childhood and their rights to education, and they were left with deep physical and psychological scars that lasted a lifetime. Children were ordinarily vulnerable and this was only worsened in the context of armed conflict. The Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict placed obligations on States, including enacting national legislation and policies to prohibit and criminalise the recruitment and use of children and other grave violations by armed forces and armed groups. The report highlighted the many forms of violations that affected children and the violation of their rights in armed conflict, particularly given the trend for attacks on schools, leading to abductions, deaths and injuries. Climate insecurity also had an impact on children confronted with armed conflict.
Some speakers noted with concern the increase in grave violations committed against children in armed conflicts, including the increasing participation of children due to recruitment and use of children, and the risks resulting from abductions and trafficking. Armed conflicts continued to increase risks of human rights violations and various forms of violence, including sexual violence for children. States should develop policies and legislation to prohibit the recruitment of children in armed forces and military groups, including the use of children in times of armed conflicts, and ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. Some speakers underlined that there was a need for targeted and specialised treatment and support for former child soldiers and victims of violence in armed conflicts.
Despite clear international human rights law, and international humanitarian law standards on the protection of children in the context of armed conflict, children continued to face grave human rights violations, speakers said. All parties should comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international refugee law, and immediately end and prevent grave violations. Several speakers also raised the issue of landmines, which disproportionately affected children. Achieving progress in this area required devotion to the cause from several inter-sectoral perspectives, including education and child-care.
Among the questions raised were: how to avoid the stigmatisation of children involved in armed conflict in the community; what steps did the Office of the Special Representative intend to take to ensure that the children of Afghanistan were protected; what recommendations could States consider in developing targeted and specialised treatment and support for former child soldiers and victims of violence, and which considerations were crucial in responding to children fleeing situations of armed conflict; what could the international community do better in order to support a climate of normality for Ukrainian children, especially those in neighbouring countries; and what could be done in the context of terrorist violence to protect children from this growing threat?
Concluding Remarks
VIRGINIA GAMBA, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, in concluding remarks, said reintegration programmes needed to be holistic. It was important to ensure that children were victims and not perpetrators. The age of the child needed to be respected; everyone under the age of 18 needed to be treated as a child. Ms. Gamba said there needed to be priorities, including supporting national strategies, rolling out the technical guidance, raising awareness, and signing and ratifying the instruments, including the Safe Schools Principles.
Interactive Dialogue on the High Commissioner’s Report on Ensuring Universal Access for All Countries to Vaccines in Response to the Coronavirus Disease Pandemic
Report
The Council has before it the report of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on ensuring equitable, affordable, timely and universal access for all countries to vaccines in response to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic (A/HRC/52/56).
Presentation of Report
PEGGY HICKS, Director of the Thematic Engagement, Special Procedures and Right to Development Division, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, presenting the report of the High Commissioner, said it was three years since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, and while countries with high vaccine rates had lifted restrictions and re-opened, it remained a global emergency. Vaccination rates continued to be insufficient in low- and middle-income countries, and the uncertainty about emerging variants remained. Sustaining a global response was key. The pace at which a vaccine was developed was unprecedented, but the world had failed to deliver them in an equitable manner, disregarding international obligations, in particular with regard to States’ duties and international obligations. More than 600,000 deaths could have been prevented if all countries had been able to reach the World Health Organization vaccination target by the end of 2021. This failure was tragic and profoundly immoral. Vaccine inequality weakened human rights, deepened inequalities between States, and exposed gaps in multilateral action when it was needed most. Significant vaccine gaps remained. Ensuring access to vaccines was a critical and fundamental part of the access to health.
Ms. Hicks said all actors needed to assume their shared human rights obligations and duties; pharmaceutical companies and businesses needed to accept their duty to protect human rights, harnessing technology fairly. States had a duty to protect citizens from human rights abuses, including from third parties, including businesses. Equitable distribution of vaccines required more public oversight. Respecting the right to health extended beyond the purchase of vaccines: what was needed was a widening of health-coverage, grounded in equitable human rights. Vaccine hesitancy was a complex issue and a global threat: for responses to be effective, they needed to be tailored and context-specific. Trust was key: factual and timely information needed to reach all, everywhere, in order to build trust among different population groups, and to ensure participation in the design of health responses.
International cooperation needed to be deepened, in line with human rights standards: international assistance and cooperation between countries were crucial to ensure that all knowledge and technology related to vaccines were treated as a global public good, and that treatment was available for all. Addressing global public health objectives in an interconnected world went beyond national interests. If the international community was to respond effectively to future pandemics, it needed to change the approach. Stronger legal frameworks were needed for vaccine distribution anchored in human rights. Any prospective pandemic treaty needed to provide for a well-coordinated global approach to the development and distribution of vaccines, with a greater and sustained investment in human rights, and with a renewed commitment by the international community.
Discussion
In the ensuing discussion, many speakers expressed deep concern for the inequitable access to vaccines and medicines in many low- and middle- income countries. COVID-19 had demonstrated that limited access to vaccines had harmful consequences for combatting new and existing infectious diseases and for preventing others from re-emerging. Among the lessons learned was the need for vaccination strategies that were human rights-based and sustainable. Going forward, it would be important to assist countries in applying an intersectional human rights approach when determining priority groups for vaccination within their national plans and strategies.
Resilient health systems were imperative to ensuring equitable and affordable access to vaccines for all. Some speakers said the pressure on health systems during health emergencies undermined the right to health and had a detrimental effect on the broader health infrastructure. What was needed was upholding regular immunisation campaigns, preserving a well-functioning health work force, and ensuring access to basic health care, including mental health services and quality sexual and reproductive health services.
To a large extent, it was necessary to remove all barriers to access COVID-19 vaccines because national strategies should be based on population needs. Some speakers said the development of medical countermeasures to COVID-19 had set new records, including for time taken between vaccine development to roll-out in low-income countries. The Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator partnership had aided this effort, and its vaccine pillar, the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility, had distributed billions of vaccine doses. The report pointed out many of the challenges faced in ensuring equitable, affordable, timely and universal access to vaccines, included the lack of diversified production across regions, the lack of capacity in some countries to store and distribute vaccines, vaccine hesitancy, the lack of reliable, systematic and timely data, misinformation, and weak health systems. Learning from these experiences would be key. National policies should be human rights-based, including for immunisation. Building resilient and robust health systems must be high on the global agenda.
Speakers noted that the pandemic had exposed how unequal the world was in terms of the enjoyment of the right to health, with the larger Global South significantly left behind. The disparities in response to the pandemic highlighted that respecting the right to health extended beyond purchasing vaccines. Realistic, feasible and increased investments were needed to strengthen national health systems, and the widening of universal health coverage should be grounded in human rights norms and principles. Many lessons were learnt, including the need for a holistic human rights approach to service delivery, including access to health services, and strengthening local government capacities as first responders in bringing human rights to all. Unless the deeply entrenched systemic inequalities were dealt with, the world would probably be sitting in the wake of another health crisis, raising the same issues.
The pandemic had also exposed serious gaps in the effectiveness of multilateral action, as, evidently, human rights obligations took a backseat at the height of the pandemic. The lack of an equitable and human rights-based multilateral response to the pandemic had led to the death of millions of people, especially in developing countries, which could have been prevented. Effective global solidarity and international cooperation based on common but differentiated responsibilities to address these challenges and better prepare for all future health emergencies, including pandemics, was therefore extremely urgent, speakers said.
One speaker said the issue should not be politicised: the pandemic brought into sharp focus the inequitable access to vaccines and medicines, and the complexity and Western-manufacture bias led to restricted market access for countries working on other standards. Another speaker said it was necessary to create conditions for equitable, affordable, timely and universal vaccination to increase resistance and immunity to COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.
Small island developing States faced serious health and sustainable development challenges posed by, among others, natural and man-made hazards, environmental degradation, and health emergencies, some speakers said. Subsequently, a global health pandemic, such as COVID-19, had dire socio-economic impacts on many such States. Many small island developing States faced difficulties in accessing COVID-19 vaccines when they first became available, and it was through innovative partnerships, such as the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access Facility and bilateral assistance, that they were able to access the vaccine. Bearing in mind the lack of a comprehensive framework and mechanism to address future health pandemics, small island developing States supported the efforts to strengthen pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
Among questions raised were how to stimulate collaboration with the private sector to ensure a better supply of and access to vaccines; how did the Office of the High Commissioner assist countries in ensuring that immunisation priorities were in line with a human rights-based approach; how to best ensure that private companies also respected human rights with regard to vaccine production and distribution; what strategies had been the most successful in combatting misinformation and disinformation in the context of access to vaccines; how could States ensure the full participation of the private sector in discussions on international vaccine access; and how could the Human Rights Council contribute to current discussions on strengthening the framework and mechanism to address future health pandemics, to ensure that human rights were mainstreamed and took into consideration the special vulnerable situations of developing countries, including small island developing States?
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HRC23.032E