ADVANCE UNEDITED VERSIONCOMMITTEE ON THE ELIMINATIONOF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION
Hundred and first session
4-7 August 2020

Statement 3 (2020)
PREVENTION OF RACIAL DISCRIMINATION, INCLUDINGEARLY WARNING AND URGENT ACTION PROCEDURES
Statement on the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its implications under theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination

I.
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the right to non-discrimination and toequality
The COVID-19 pandemic is having significant adverse impacts on the enjoyment of humanrights, in particular on the right to non-discrimination and to equality based on the grounds set
forth in article 1 of the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial
Discrimination. Several months into the pandemic, evidence shows that the pandemic
disproportionally affects individuals and groups who are marginalized and more vulnerable toracial discrimination, in particular persons belonging to national or ethnic, religious andlinguistic minorities as well as indigenous peoples, including those living in isolation, migrants,refugees and asylum-seekers, Roma, non-citizens, people of African descent and other groups
who face discrimination based on descent.
All over the globe, persons belonging to minorities and marginalized groups are more
vulnerable to the pandemic due to a greater exposure to the virus because of often inadequate
or particular living conditions (crowded urban settlements or remote communities), limited orno access to clean water and sanitation facilities, limited or no access to healthcare, medication,
medical services, social security and social services which as a result can lead to higher rates
of infection and mortality. Groups that are subject to racial discrimination are furthermore
disproportionally affected by the overall negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthservices in general, with health issues not directly related to the COVID-19 disease being left
unattended.
The pandemic thereby exposes and further deepens structural inequalities affecting vulnerable
groups protected under the Convention, based on entrenched structures and practices ofdiscrimination and exclusion. It furthermore has a significantly disparate socio-economic
impact on those groups and minorities, in particular with regard to housing, employment andeducation as well as economic security in general.
In addition, the pandemic as well as the responses to the pandemic have exacerbated thespecific vulnerability of women and girls, children, and persons with disabilities, leading tomultiple or intersecting forms of discrimination. An increase of domestic as well as other forms

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of sexual, psychological and physical violence against minority and indigenous women has
been reported. Furthermore, their high number in informal, low wage and service industries,
which were hardest hit by COVID-19, and the existing gender digital divide also pushed manyof them farther away from the labour market and work opportunities.
This higher vulnerability of persons belonging to marginalized groups to the pandemic is
accompanied by a significant increase in stigmatization, labelling and scapegoating which
often results in discriminatory acts and even violence against groups and minorities protectedunder the Convention, in particular against people of Asian and African descent, migrants aswell as members of the Roma community and those who are regarded as belonging to lower
castes. Overall, there has been a general rise in xenophobia during the pandemic. Racist hatespeech, in particular against Asian people and people of Asian descent, assimilating the spreadof the virus to the behaviour of certain groups already subject to racial discrimination, and theuse of derogatory language in the public sphere and in statements of State officials,
disseminated through traditional and social media, have increased.
Moreover, reports indicate practices and incidents of racially discriminatory enforcement ofrestrictions on human rights and other measures, such as emergency laws, taken to address theCOVID-19 pandemic. In addition, access to justice and national mechanisms combatting racial
discrimination has been further hindered due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

II.
Obligations of States under the International Convention on the Elimination of
All Forms of Racial Discrimination
States have an obligation to respect, protect and fulfil their international human rights
obligations, including in times of crisis. States may enact and enforce restrictions of humanrights on public health grounds only if they are necessary, reasonable, proportionate and nondiscriminatory. Both with regard to the impact of the pandemic in general as well as whenaddressing the pandemic, States need to respect human rights and to ensure that their measures
are in accordance with their international obligations, including those arising from theInternational Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. TheCommittee reminds State Parties of its General Recommendations to ensure compliance of themeasures they take to address the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact with the provisions ofthe Convention:
1. Measures addressing the COVID-19 pandemic can be taken and enforced only incompliance with obligations under international human rights law. Measures including but
not limited to the closing of borders, lockdowns, quarantines and enforcement measures
must not be enacted or enforced in a manner that violates the prohibition of racial
discrimination.
2. The COVID-19 pandemic has made members of groups and minorities protected under theConvention particularly vulnerable to discrimination. Beyond their obligation to refrainfrom any discriminatory acts or practices themselves, States have the obligation to protect
members of vulnerable groups against discrimination stemming from private actors. Thisobligation applies in particular to racist insults and hate speech, harassment, acts of violence,and exclusion or denial of goods and services contrary to the prohibition of racial
discrimination.

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3. The COVID-19 pandemic has led to the increased use of racist stereotypes, associating thevirus with specific regions, nationals or groups or through linking the disease and its
outbreak to migration or foreigners in general. States are obliged to desist from, but alsocondemn and combat, any action that could reinforce such stereotypes and lead tostigmatization, in particular with regard to any action that might incite acts of racial
discrimination. States should counter existing stereotypes and prejudice through thedissemination of fact-based information and awareness campaigns.
4. The disparate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is particularly pertinent with regard to
the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights. States must protect against andmitigate the impact of the pandemic on individuals and groups subject to structural
discrimination and disadvantage on the basis of the grounds in the Convention, taking into
account the gender-related dimensions of racial discrimination:
(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

(f)

States have an obligation to ensure equal access to healthcare services, including
testing, medicine and medical procedures, and to eliminate discriminatory
practices against groups and minorities protected under the Convention, including
migrants and undocumented persons that might obstruct them from accessing
healthcare.
States have an obligation to take appropriate measures to address the disparate
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on groups and minorities protected under theConvention with regard to adequate housing and homelessness, for example
through financial assistance or regulatory measures on rent and mortgage
payments as well as eviction moratoriums.
States have to take appropriate measures to address the disparate effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic on groups and minorities protected under the Convention
with regard to employment and employment conditions, in particular with regard
to the higher risk and impact of unemployment. Workers in occupations with ahigh risk of contamination should be provided with protective equipment andclothes without discrimination.
States have an obligation to take appropriate measures to address the disparate
effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on groups and minorities protected under theConvention with regard to access to education, for example by taking the needsof these groups into specific consideration when deciding about the reopening ofschools, advancing ways of alternative learning solutions and enacting measuresin order to bridge the digital divide.
States must guarantee that all persons and groups have access to financial aid andother economic support measures taken in the context of the COVID-19
pandemic without discrimination. In light of the disparate impact of the pandemic
on groups and minorities protected under the Convention, States should consider
the adoption of special measures in order to secure the full and equal enjoymentof human rights and fundamental freedoms of disadvantaged groups.
Indigenous peoples, specifically those living in remote areas and in isolation, areparticularly vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic. States have an obligation toensure, through positive measures if needed, that the rights of indigenous
communities living on their territory are protected.

35. States must ensure, in their own actions as well as through international cooperation, thatthe development of vaccines as well as access to an eventual vaccine against COVID-19
occur in a non-discriminatory manner, taking into account the situation and needs ofgroups which are marginalized and subjected to discrimination.
6. States must combat the COVID-19 pandemic guided by the principle of international
solidarity through international assistance and cooperation. States furthermore mustcooperate in order to mitigate the disparate impact of the pandemic and its socioeconomic consequences in particular for groups and minorities protected under theConvention.
7. States should adopt a consultative approach to their response to COVID-19, in particularby guaranteeing the participation of all groups and minorities protected under theConvention in the design and implementation of emergency measures.
III.
Role of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination andRecommendations
1. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination closely monitors the impactof the COVID-19 pandemic and of State responses to the pandemic on the prohibition ofracial discrimination. The Committee will avail itself of all its procedures as appropriate,in particular its reporting and early warning and urgent action procedures.
2. The Committee encourages all State Parties to the International Convention on theElimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination to specifically address within theirnext reports under article 9 of the International Convention on the Elimination of All
Forms of Racial Discrimination:
(a)
(b)

(c)
(d)

(e)

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on groups and minorities protected underthe Convention within their territory and under their jurisdiction;
Measures taken to ensure the participation of all groups and minorities, inparticular women, children and persons with disability, in the design andimplementation of their response to the COVID-19 pandemic;
Measures taken to protect people belonging to groups and minorities protectedunder the Convention from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic;
Measures taken to protect members of vulnerable groups against discriminatory
acts and to counter hate speech and stigmatization in connection with the COVID19 pandemic;
Measures taken to mitigate the socio-economic impact of the COVID-19
pandemic on members of marginalized and vulnerable groups in accordance with
their obligation to respect, protect and fulfil economic, social and cultural rights.

3. The Committee is committed to cooperation with all other United Nations agencies andcalls upon these agencies to provide, within their mandate, assistance to Member States in
implementing the recommendations of the Committee as well as all otherrecommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic issued within the United Nations
system.

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4. The Committee calls upon civil society to submit all information relevant to the mandateof the Committee with regard to racial discrimination in the context of the COVID-19
pandemic. The Committee is committed to maintain the dialogue with civil society and toensure the participation of civil society in the work of the Committee.
2805th meeting
7 August 20205