REPOSITORY
Human Rights & COVID-19
How National Academies are Working to Shed Light on Rights Challenges Related to the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic is exposing and exacerbating inequalities throughout the world, and it has significant implications for a range of internationally protected human rights. National academies, and the broader scientific community, are poised to help address these concerns, which pose a threat to human dignity and to the global public health response.
Through their research and other activities, many national academies are examining the connections between science, engineering, health and human rights and working to promote rights-based approaches to the pandemic.
In December 2020, the IHRN, together with the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), launched the repository below as part of a virtual public event to highlight this important work. The repository, which will be continually expanded, features selected activities produced independently by academies worldwide. It includes reports, statements, webinars, interviews, and other existing resources on a variety of topics, as well as information relating to ongoing academy projects. The IHRN invites academies to contact it with information concerning relevant initiatives.
PUBLICATIONS
Ensuring a Rights-based Approach to COVID-19
Several publications of the Royal Society of Canada (RSC) examine human rights challenges surrounding the pandemic, including in relation to protection of civil liberties.
PUBLICATIONS
Securing the Right to Political Participation During a Pandemic
The British Academy has produced a briefing on How to Hold Elections Safely and Democratically during the COVID-19 Pandemic. In a related blog, Professor Sarah Birch, a British Academy Fellow, and other authors of the briefing elaborate on the connections between elections, human rights, and COVID-19.
VIDEO CONFERENCE
COVID-19 and Inequities in the Americas
The Inter-American Network of Academies of Science held a video conference to share information on activities of IANAS academies in response to COVID-19. Among the activities discussed were academy efforts to address inequities deepened by the pandemic.
INTERVIEW
Tackling the Digital Education Divide
Dr. Anindita Bhadra of the Global Young Academy discussed with the IHRN how the move to online teaching during the pandemic impacts the right to education.
VARIOUS ACTIVITIES
The British Academy has produced publications, a workshop summary and a recorded talk that explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and economic inequalities.
INTERVIEW
Disease, Stigma and Discrimination
Dr. Indira Nath, former IHRN Executive Committee member, spoke with IHRN Executive Director Rebecca Everly about the historic stigma surrounding leprosy, drawing parallels with discrimination against individuals during COVID-19.
WEBINAR
Health Inequities, Human Rights and COVID-19
The U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine hosted a panel that examined health inequities in the United States that have placed certain populations at increased risk of severe illness or death from COVID-19.
WEBINAR
COVID-19 & Human Rights: Perspectives on Socio-economic
Rights and Violence
The Academy of Science of South Africa held a discussion to explore the impact of COVID-19 on socio-economic human rights and violence faced by citizens.
STATEMENT
The Federation of European Academies of Medicine and the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities have called upon European and national authorities to take critical actions to support migrant health, emphasizing the urgent health risks faced by migrants as a result of the pandemic.
VIRTUAL PANEL
Mental Health Consequences of the Pandemic
Risk factors for mental health disorders, including poverty, social inequalities, and experience of violence, have risen greatly since the onset of the pandemic. The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina and the Academy of Science of South Africa held a panel to discuss concerns regarding the impact of COVID-19 on mental health and on access to treatment.
VIRTUAL PANEL
Digital Contact Tracing: Privacy and Other Challenges
Many countries have made use of contact tracing apps as a means to help prevent and control the spread of COVID-19. But these apps raise questions, including in relation to effectiveness, privacy, and data security. The German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina held a virtual panel to discuss the experience of different countries in designing and using such apps.
PRESENTATION
Addressing Poverty and Inequality Amid COVID-19
Dr. Mari Osawa of the Science Council of Japan has drawn attention to problems of poverty and gender inequality and important connections between these problems and the pandemic.
INTERVIEW
COVID-19 and Children's Rights
The Uganda National Academy of Sciences has drawn attention to the impact of COVID-19 on children and adolescents in Uganda. Ugandan pediatrician Dr. Sabrina Bakeera-Kitaka discussed the challenges that children are facing.
COMMUNIQUÉ
COVID-19 and Inequalities in Higher Education
The InterAcademy Partnership & the Global Young Academy have produced a communiqué calling for the international community to take action to address pressing challenges for higher education globally that have been exacerbated by the pandemic.
VARIOUS ACTIVITIES
COVID-19 and the Social Sciences
Seriously Social, an initiative of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, features podcasts and articles in which Academy Fellows use the lens of the social sciences to examine how COVID-19 is impacting society.
Statements, recommendations, and opinions contained in the above academy initiatives do not necessarily reflect the views of the IHRN.