Today, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights released an important  statement on the impact of the COVID-19 disease on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, recommending that States, when  tackling the virus, should take into consideration their binding international human rights obligations.

The Statement highlights that the pandemic clearly illustrates the interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights, affecting both civil and political and economic, social and cultural rights, especially the rights to health, housing, food and water. It stresses that the rights of the most marginalised groups are often disproportionately affected by the adverse impacts of the COVID-19 disease and that “No one should be left behind in taking the measures necessary to combat this pandemic.” Notably, the Committee emphasises that decades of austerity measures and cuts to public services have left their mark by deepening socioeconomic inequalities around the globe, and leaving social programmes and health-care systems ill-equipped to effectively respond to the COVID-19 crisis.

The Committees underlines that “COVID-19 has highlighted the critical role of adequate investments in public health systems, comprehensive social protection programmes, decent work, housing, food, water and sanitations systems, and institutions to advance gender equality. Such investments are crucial in responding effectively to global health pandemics, and in counteracting multiple, intersecting forms of inequality, including deep inequalities of income and wealth both within and between countries.”

In this context, the Committee calls on States to use their maximum available resources to: adequately invest in, and deliver, economic and social rights (public health systems, decent work, housing, water and sanitation, and food); strengthen international assistance and cooperation, including ‘the sharing of research, medical equipment and supplies, and best practices in combating the virus’; and  comply with their extraterritorial obligations in order to address the COVID-19 pandemic, such as in relation to medical equipment exports, border closures and intellectual property regimes.

The full statement is available here.