Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the (a) UN Human Rights Council and (b) UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on the effects of the covid-19 pandemic.

On 9 April, the UK and other UN member states participated in the UN Human Rights Council's first ever virtual conversation with Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Discussion focused on the human rights implications of the COVID-19 crisis; both the immediate impact of the response on human rights around the world, and the social and economic consequences, including the prospect of greater inequality. The UK stressed the importance of ensuring that measures to tackle the crisis be proportionate, time-bound, transparent and regularly reviewed. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the UK Mission to the UN in Geneva has continued to engage regularly with the High Commissioner and with other senior leaders in her office. The UK supports all efforts by the UN to minimise long-term damage to global economies, societies, politics and freedoms.