Reflections on 2021 Africa Human Rights Day
The 2021 Africa Human Rights Day is celebrated amidst the global COVID19 pandemic. The experience of many people across the continent also shows that COVID19 has brought a huge human and peoples’ rights consequences. The pandemic has highlighted the pervasiveness of the socio-economic deprivations affecting the masses of our people. We have come to realize that under such conditions of deep structural weaknesses of our societies, the most widely used public health response measures could not be effectively implemented, without leaving the most vulnerable from the scope of these protection measures. How can someone with no access to drinking water comply with the public health call for handwashing? How can someone with no shelter comply with the public health requirement of staying at home?This year’s commemoration of Africa Human Rights Day organised by Human Rights Priority by the executive Director Miguele Houeto and her entire team (Achille Fatondji, Jaly Badiane etc.), is an important occasion to reflect on these and related issues. It presents us the opportunity to show not only why COVID19 is also essentially a human rights issue but also why human and peoples’ rights are the foundation for achieving the ideal of Agenda 2063 and the sustainable development goals of ‘leaving no one behind’