Webinar

Online side event at the Regional Forum on Sustainable Development for the UNECE Region

10 March 2021
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Side event: ‘Sustainable Recovery: Delivering on both Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda in the UNECE Region’

The COVID-19 pandemic is having a devastating effect on vulnerable groups and societies and on a range of fundamental human rights in the UNECE region. The reasons for existing and newly formed vulnerabilities are, however, not new. Their root causes are entrenched in systems, policies, structures and attitudes that allow inequalities and discrimination to persist.  The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed these systemic patterns of neglect, revealing gaps in states’ fulfilment of their existing human rights obligations and deep-rooted challenges in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It has provided some with a pretext to silence dissent and pass emergency legislation with limited democratic control that risk having longer-term effects on our societies. Depending on how states address this crisis, inequalities could become even more pronounced, undermining the promise of the 2030 Agenda “to leave no-one behind”.

The side event ‘Sustainable Recovery: Delivering on both Human Rights and the 2030 Agenda in the UNECE Region’ aims to concretise how sustainable and resilient recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic can deliver on both human rights and the 2030 Agenda in the UNECE Region. The following key questions will be explored:

  • How can we conceptualise a human rights-based sustainable recovery which builds on both states human rights obligations and SDG commitments in recovery programmes and measures?
  • How do we ensure that the principle of leaving no-one behind is entrenched in Covid-19 recovery strategies and plans, drawing on human rights recommendations and disaggregated data? How can we produce this disaggregated data for generating evidence-based policies and measures?
  • How can local authorities be involved to ensure their vulnerable residents benefit from the recovery and development plans?
  • How can national human rights institutions (NHRIs), United Nations agencies, the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), and other stakeholders assist or complement, including in helping to make the planning and delivery more inclusive and human-rights based?

Speakers will include representatives from member states in the UNECE region, including a local authority from a UNECE member state; regional and international human rights bodies; national human rights institutions; and representatives from vulnerable groups.

Programme

Time PM CET Agenda item, presenter and key content
12.00 - 12.15 Check-in
12:15 - 12.30
 
 

Welcome by the moderator Birgitte Feiring, Department Director, Danish Institute for Human Rights. 

Opening remarks from Ambassador Morten Jespersen,
Permanent Representative of Denmark to the United Nations in Geneva.

Opening remarks from Ms. Birgit Van Hout, Regional Representative, United Nations Human Rights Regional Office for Europe

12.30 - 12.50

Segment one:  How can human rights and human rights mechanisms guide sustainable recovery in the UNECE region?

Moderated Interactive Panel: 

  • Olivier de Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights
  • Massimo Toschi, International Relations Officer, SDGs Coordinator, European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
  • Carol Rask, Strategic Advisor, Danish Institute for Human Rights.
12.50 - 13.10 Questions and Answers
13.10 - 13.30

Segment two: How do we ensure no one is left behind in recovery plans in the UNECE region?

Moderated Interactive Panel:

  • Dragan Gračanin Executive Director of the Association of Roma Coordinators, Serbia
  • Erinda Ballanca, People’s Advocate of Albania,  European Network of National Human Rights Institution
  • Olesia Kompaniiets, GBV Programme Manager, United Nations Population Fund Country Office Ukraine.
13.30 - 13.40 Questions and Answers
13.40 - 13.45
  • Moderator: Key Takeaways
  • Final remarks from Ambassador Rui Macieira, Permanent Representative, Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations Office and Other International Organisations in Geneva.

Co-sponsors

  • Permanent Mission of Denmark to the UN Geneva
  • Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR)
  • European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)
  • European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI)
  • Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR)
  • United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
  • United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).  
  • Permanent Mission of Portugal to the United Nations Office and Other International Organisations in Geneva.

Registration

The webinar will take place on Teams. Kindly register via the form below.

By registering you also grant us permission to contact you via the registered email with a participation link, a reminder email and material from the event after the event has taken place.

The event will be in English and recorded and publicly available.

Registration form
When you register for this event , we register your email address, your name and/or organisation/company name. We use this information to send you a confirmation and a reminder about the event. Only a few employees at the Danish institute for Human Rights have access to the list of registrations. We will not disclose data about individual registrations, and the data will be erased when the event has taken place.