The Pandemic Treaty draft misses the mark on Human Rights

Human rights are not adequately reflected in the negotiations underway around the Pandemic Treaty.  

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, together with Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch (HRW), and the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) express serious concern that human rights are not adequately reflected in the negotiations underway around the Pandemic Treaty and human rights are not adequately protected in the substance of the latest draft of the Pandemic Treaty. 

 The organisations are calling on the Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) to urgently revisit the process by which the Treaty is being drafted, to ensure effective and meaningful participation by all stakeholders (including by those who face obstacles, especially due to power imbalances), and to revise its provisions to make them fully consistent with States’ obligations and companies’ responsibilities regarding human rights. A process to negotiate a new international instrument on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response is underway (the “Pandemic Treaty”). 

The Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB), open to all World Health Organization (WHO) Member States, will be meeting in Geneva from 27 February to 3 March to discuss the Zero Draft of this proposed instrument, which was made public earlier this month. The Covid-19 pandemic exposed how human rights protections are indispensable for just and effective pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. However, the Zero Draft does not adequately protect human rights in the context of future public health emergencies. An overview of our major concerns around the lack of adequate human rights protections in the Zero Draft is outlined below, including a few selected suggestions on specific text.