China on Monday delivered a joint statement together with over 90 countries at the 50th session of the UN Human Rights Council, highlighting the importance of promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of addressing inequalities in the recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Delivering the joint statement at the session, Chen Xu, head of the Chinese Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, said that by compounding the existing socio-economic challenges, COVID-19 has enlarged the structural inequalities within and among states, and those in vulnerable and marginalized situations disproportionately bearing the brunt of the negative impacts.
"Unfortunately, global economic recovery from the pandemic is unbalanced. Constrained by an increasing liquidity crunch, developing countries are literally struggling to recover their economies, alleviate poverty, counter discrimination and improve livelihoods, with a risk of reversing the progress that has been made to achieve SDGs," Chen noted.
Energy and food insecurity have also posed grave challenges to the efforts of states for recovery, he said, adding that with its unremitting, adverse impacts on human lives, needs, and dignity, the pandemic "is far from over."
Therefore, Chen said, there is a clear human rights imperative for the UN human rights machinery to act and play its role in facilitating a sustainable, equitable and resilient recovery from the pandemic.
"We emphasize that the COVID-19 pandemic can be countered effectively only through international cooperation, unity, solidarity and collective action, based on a multilateral approach, and strong international institutions," he concluded.
