HRC44 - NB8 statement - SR on Extreme Poverty and human rights

Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and human rights

6 July 2020

Statement by Finland on behalf of the Nordic & Baltic countries

Madam President,

I have the honor to deliver this statement on behalf of the Nordic-Baltic countries: Denmark, Estonia, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and my own country Finland.

First, we would like to welcome the new Special Rapporteur, Mr. Olivier De Schutter, to the Human Rights Council, and express our full support to his challenging mission at the times of a major global economic recession, provoked by the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity, and climate change are leading to increasing food insecurity, internal displacement, and growth of inequalities. They have the worst impact on people living in poverty, on those marginalized, socially excluded or with low levels of qualifications, especially women and girls. People living in poverty rarely have access to accountability and are excluded from participating meaningfully in political processes. The Nordic – Baltic countries are committed to a human rights-based approach to combating extreme poverty to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals set out in the Agenda 2030. 

Consequences of poverty as an urban phenomenon increases the risk of spreading diseases such as the COVID-19, and persons working in the informal sector are likely to bear the most severe impacts, and their right to health is especially challenged. In combating extreme poverty, universal social protection is a comprehensive tool. By guaranteeing access to it for all, poverty reduction can be possible.

Dr Special Rapporteur,

How do you plan to build your programme of work in the post-COVID-19 situation?