Democracy, human rights and the pandemic: impact and opportunities

Live stream 

Live streaming will be available here. 

Panel discussion

This panel discussion will serve to review the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on democratic institutions, and on fundamental rights and freedoms - based on the findings and recommendations from the recent report ‘OSCE Human Dimension Commitments and State Responses to the Covid-19 Pandemic’.

This event will also identify the solutions available to inter-governmental bodies to promote more effective and ultimately more democratic responses to the pandemic.

The online discussion will feature the OSCE/ODIHR First Deputy Director/Director’s Alternate and the Secretary General of International IDEA.

Objectives

This webinar will explore ways for leading international actors on democracy to contribute to:

• ensuring that the COVID-19 health crisis does not become a political and governance crisis
• shaping democratic recovery after the pandemic

Format and participation

The webinar is open to the public and will be webcasted through ODIHR and International IDEA official social media channels, in English and Russian languages.

International sign language interpretation will be also provided.

Those interested in receving an email reminder for the webinar can send their request to nino.chanturia@odihr.pl.

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic is an international public health crisis that continues to challenge our democracies in ways that are unprecedented.

The crisis has exposed pre-existing ills in democracies – inefficient governance, an erosion of trust in governance structures, polarization, fragility of freedoms of speech and information, and attacks on civic space.