Yet, notwithstanding the promise in the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international law instruments to protect and ensure the human rights of all people, states continue to view their responsibilities as stopping at their own national borders. Not only are human rights universal, but the obligation to protect those rights are universal as well. Without this understanding of human rights, we will continue to be left with the “beggar thy neighbor” policies on display with respect to the availability of the Covid vaccine. The writer is one of the founding members of the Extraterritorial Obligations human rights consortium. While your country has suffered unimaginable illness and losses due to the pandemic, about 25 percent of your population is at least partly vaccinated, while only 9 percent of our population is at least partly vaccinated.

Source: International New York Times March 23, 2021 17:37 UTC