 Six months after the first cases were detected, it is clear that this epidemic threatens both peace and development and that it calls for more civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, not less. The pandemic should spur us to adopt strong transformative measures to heighten the powerful protections that human rights-based policies can provide by promoting public health, public confidence in official guidance and greater social and economic resilience. It urgently calls for leadership grounded in clarity, evidence and principle to protect the most vulnerable members of society and to address the profound inequalities that are accelerating the pandemic's incidents and impact. Wherever they exist, desegregated data indicate that members of racial and ethnic minorities and indigenous people are both more likely to die of COVID-19 and are hit the hardest by its socioeconomic consequences. This is particularly true of people of African descent who across every area of the African descendant diaspora continue to face unequal education, inadequate services and access to health care and intersecting forms of structural discrimination that put them on the frontlines in so-called essential jobs that deepen their vulnerability. COVID-19 aggravates exclusion and discrimination suffered by women and girls. Their lack of social protection stemming from their concentration in informal low-status and low-paid jobs. Their burden of care for children and their elderly. And the continuous inclusion of women from decision-making. Pervasive gender-based violence has also grown in the last few months with increased number of users of 24-7 hotlines for domestic violence. This situation risks rolling back hard fought gains for women's health, economic participation and equal rights. All the people are suffering the highest death tolls and worst medical harms. The shocking rates of contagion and death in residential care homes suggest profound shortcomings in the approach taken by some national authorities to the pandemic impact on the care home sector as well as the quality of medical surveillance and services they provide. The pandemic is also likely to generate profound and long-lasting impacts on children. UNICEF has reported that unless there is urgent action to protect families from the economic impacts of the pandemic, the number of children living below national poverty lines could increase by 15% in 2020, reaching 672 million. The World Food Program estimates that the number of young children suffering acute malnutrition could increase by 10 million this year. Disruption to schools and training programs heightens the risk of the poorest children falling behind and increases children's exposure to the threat of domestic violence, child labour, child marriage and female genital mutilation. We're also seeing signs of a surge in online sexual exploitation of children. I'm dismayed by reports indicating that in many countries members of minority communities and migrants face increasing stigmatization, including some cases by officials. In Sri Lanka and India, members of the Muslim minority has been targeted by stigma and hate speech, associating them with COVID-19. Discrimination kills, depriving people of their social and economic rights kills, and this death and harms damage all of society. COVID-19 is like a heat-seeking device that exposes and is fueled by systemic failures to uphold human rights. I urge all world leaders to grasp the vital importance of this moment and to take immediate action to support the work of multilateral institutions that are struggling to assist countries and people in this crisis. Censorship and criminalization of speech are likely to suppress crucial information needed to address the pandemic. I only respect for their rights, including the right to participate in transparent and accountable decision-making will inspire people to trust the policies adopted by the governments. Heartful disinformation should be accounted by efforts to provide credible, accurate information from authoritative resources and promote social media literacy. Journalists, human right defenders and civil society activists can assist the authorities to identify and resolve shortcomings in their COVID-19 responses, and crackdowns are not only unjust violations of the rights, they damage the effectiveness of policies to prevent and mitigate the impact of the pandemic.