View the live broadcast without registration here

The COVID-19 pandemic is not just a global public health crisis. It has huge implications for democracies and fundamental rights around the world. Some governments are restricting civil liberties, discriminating in enforcement of pandemic-related measures, limiting parliamentary and civic oversight, and exploiting opportunities for executive aggrandizement in the name of fighting the pandemic.

Many governments are restricting human rights and fundamental freedoms, such as the freedoms of assembly and of movement. While certain restrictions can be justified under international law, notably if they are lawful, necessary, proportionate, subject to review and of limited duration, it is paramount that they are lifted once the COVID-19 outbreak is over. Worryingly, a wide-range of human rights abuses can be witnessed, including incidents where the COVID-19 outbreak appears to be the pretext for repressive measures against critical or opposition voices or religious, ethnic, or sexual minorities.

International IDEA cordially invites you to the launch of The Global Monitor of COVID-19´s Impact on Democracy and Human Rights, a one-stop platform that facilitates public access to knowledge, data, analysis, and policy guidance on the implications of measures adopted by governments in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Global Monitor gathers updated information on 162 countries. It is designed to be a useful tool for policymakers, academics, civil society, and journalists in their search for ways to understand the pandemic crisis and its ramifications.

The Global Monitor is produced by International IDEA with support from the EU.

Speakers:

1. Jutta Urpilainen (EU Commissioner for International Partnerships)

2. Hannah Neumann (MEP - Vice-Chair of the Subcommittee on Human Rights, European Parliament)

- Kevin Casas-Zamora (Secretary-General, International IDEA)

- Yasmine Ouirhrane (Tech & Policy Expert, Founder of the podcast We Belong, EDD 2019 Young Leader)

- Jessica Musila (Civil society practitioner, Open Governance Fellow at the Kenyan think tank Local Development Research Institute (LDRI))

- Elisenda Ballesté (Associate Programme Officer in Democracy Assessment and Political Analysis Unit, International IDEA)