April 29, 2020
Ambassador Elisabeth Tichy-Fisslberger President United Nations Human Rights Council Geneva, Switzerland (via email: hrcpresidency@un.org)
Your Excellency,
The undersigned civil society organizations urge you to ensure that the rights of people who are living in poverty, and of people experiencing homelessness, are explicitly referenced in the draft Human Rights Council resolution on the human rights implications of the COVID-19 crisis.
As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic is having a catastrophic impact on millions of people around the world, especially the most vulnerable and marginalized populations in our societies, who are suffering the worst of and will undoubtedly be the last to recover from this global health and economic crisis. Too many will not even survive the pandemic. We strongly believe, and we have no doubt you agree, that the international human rights system should leave no one behind when it comes to guaranteeing universal human rights. The U.N. Human Rights Council is responsible for ensuring that these rights are protected and enforced at all times, without discrimination – an imperative in times of global crisis.
Several U.N. human rights bodies have emphasized that certain communities face heightened threats as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, specifically people living in poverty and individuals experiencing homelessness. On March 24, 2020, the Chairpersons of the ten U.N. Treaty Bodies called on States “to adopt measures to protect the rights to life and health, and to ensure access to health care to all who need it, without discrimination.” They urged governments to take extra care of those particularly vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, including “older people, people with disabilities, minorities, indigenous peoples, refugees, asylum seekers and migrants, people deprived of their liberty, homeless people, and those living in poverty.” (emphasis added).
On April 22, 2020, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights issued a statement warning that many States’ responses to COVID-19 have had devastating effects on people living in poverty, and emphasized that “[d]espite often far-reaching policy reversals and huge financial support packages, the most vulnerable have been short-changed or excluded.” He estimated that the COVID-19 pandemic could push more than half a billion additional people into poverty, underscoring that this crisis “disproportionately affects poor people, who are more likely to have health complications, live in crowded housing, lack the resources to stay at home for long periods, and work low-paid jobs that force them to choose between risking their health or losing their income.”
We commend you for your leadership and for holding informal meetings and consultations since the onset of the pandemic. We remain hopeful that you will stand up for the rights of millions of people around the world who are experiencing homelessness and living in poverty. At a minimum, the Human Rights Council should recognize this plight and include these populations explicitly in the global efforts to protect basic human rights.
Sincerely,
The Advocates for Human Rights
Africa Solidarity Centre Ireland
Africa World Now Project (AWNP)
African Diaspora Directorate (AfDiDi)
African Voices Forum Ltd. (AVF)
Alaska Community Action on Toxics (ACAT)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)
Art and Resistance Through Education (ARTE)
Best Practices Policy Project (BPPP)
Black Voters Matter Fund
Broward for Progress
Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA)
Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR)
Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
CHIRAPAQ Center for Indigenous Cultures of Peru
Coalition for Public Education (CPE)
Columbia Law School Human Rights Institute
Columbia University Amnesty International
Community Resource Centre Foundation (CRC)
Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas (ECMIA)
Dejusticia
The Democracy Collaborative
Desiree Alliance
First Peoples Worldwide
Focus On the Global South
Fourteenth Amendment Group
The Franklin Law Group, P.C.
Fundación Código Humano
Geneva for Human Rights (GHR)
Gente & Dignidad
George Washington University International Human Rights Clinic
Grata Fund
Greens of Colour, Bristol
Hawai’i Institute for Human Rights
Human Rights Law Network (HRLN)
IDHEAS Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos (iDHeas)
International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)
Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL)
Justice Revival
Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice
Lambda Legal
LatinoJustice PRLDEF
Legal Resources Centre (LRC)
Liberty Human Rights, UK
National Network for Immigrant & Refugee Rights (NNIRR)
New Afrikan People’s Organization/ Malcolm X Grassroots Movement (NAPO/MXGM)
NGO Committee for the Elimination of Racism, Afrophobia, and Colorism
Organization for Human Rights and Democracy (OHRD)
Partners for Justice
Pittsburgh Human Rights City Alliance
Project Blueprint
Rights and Democracy Institute (RDI)
Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference, Inc. (SDPC)
Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center (SWP)
SJSU Human Rights Institute
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP)
The Talking Drum Organization
Te Rau Ora
UNESCO Inclusive Policy Lab
UNITED SIKHS
University of Chicago Law School International Human Rights Clinic
University of Miami School of Law Human Rights Clinic
US Human Rights Cities Alliance
US Human Rights Network (USHRN)
Witness at the Border
Women’s All Points Bulletin (WAPB)
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)
Woodhull Freedom Foundation