The past two years have been a difficult time for human rights around the world. Wherever we look, there have been setbacks – with a constantly growing number of conflicts and displacement, and forced migration depriving many people of their rights. In the United Nations, universal values and standards that appeared to be taken for granted are suddenly being called into question once again. And the COVID-19 pandemic has made many things even worse. Repressive regimes are exploiting the pandemic to harass human rights defenders and to silence free media. However, women are also particularly affected by the pandemic as caring for children and families mainly falls to them alone. They are disproportionately more likely to lose their jobs, often losing their livelihoods in the process.

We are tackling this negative development with a proactive human rights policy. In the Alliance for Multilateralism, we have formed strong alliances against the rollback of universal values and against the impunity of human rights violations. We have enshrined the protection of women and children against sexual violence in conflicts in a Security Council resolution. And we are working hard to protect those who defend human rights in their countries, both online and offline.