Exclusive High-Level Side Event to UN General Assembly

Published 23 September 2020

“THE CHANGING WORLD ORDER & ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR MULTILATERALISM & ITS STAKEHOLDERS”

Thematic (Global) Session 5: On Human Rights

Will the Pandemic exacerbate the problems of the poor and deprive them of access to education and health? These are fundamental human rights at a time when the world is also emphasizing a confrontation of the legacy of the racism and discrimination against people of color. Human rights have advanced in many places, but in many other places, discrimination against women and the poor, racism and sectarianism are impeding the weak and the marginalized 
from access to the basic necessities of a decent life. 

Will the model of western-style representative democracy be challenged by a more authoritarian view of the role of government? What about “illiberal democracies” where authoritarian regime periodically gets reelected in largely sham elections, and where governments dominate the legislative and the judiciary and curtail the media and the NGOs?

How can we push for an active promotion of human rights, from the basic needs of food, shelter, health, education and employment to the fundamental protection of free speech and civic and political participation?