UN rights chief decries inequalities fueled by Covid-19

By Juliet Nalwooga

The UN rights chief has noted with concern that despite significant progress since the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 73 years ago, the COVID pandemic has “fed a frightening rise in inequalities”.

In a message marking the Human Rights Day, Michelle Bachelet says the pandemic has laid bare “many of the countries’ failures to consolidate the advances made.

Bachelet and UN secretary General Antonio Guterres have taken the opportunity to take stock of progress made, lessons learned, and put forward a new Agenda for Peace that presents a multidimensional vision of global security.

According to Bachelet, this is an agenda of action that proposes to deepen collective action by addressing the root causes of insecurity and inequality.

While in his message, UN chief Guterres, says with the world “at a crossroads”, new threats have emerged to basic human rights, such as the pandemic, digital technology’s overreach, and the climate crisis.

Written by Noelyn Nassuuna