RightOn – Inequality and discrimination during Covid-19

In partnership with the Permanent Missions of Denmark, Norway and the Netherlands, UNFPA, the Geneva Academy, the Human Rights Centre of the University of Essex, World Jewish Conference, the Geneva Rights Platform, and the Geneva Internet Platform, the URG is launching a new digital initiative to keep the conversation on key human rights issues going during these times of lockdowns and self-isolation.

The RightOn initiative will provide a platform for debate and exchange of ideas on topical human rights issues through regular webinars, which will take place every Wednesday at 3 PM CEST. The second of these Wednesday Web Chats took place on 15th April 2020 and focused on the issue of ‘Inequality and discrimination during Covid-19’.

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 reflected 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.

A summary of the event can be found here:

https://righton.dig.watch