Conflict

Cameroon is currently facing several human rights protection concerns. The Northern regions suffer from Boko Haram insurgency, the East registers attacks from Central African Republic rebels, and the Northwest and Southwest are facing a violent conflict. Coupled with COVID-19, human rights response has been severely affected.

It is clear that the COVID-19 pandemic presents a threat to international peace and security, particularly in Africa, which continues to shoulder the bulk of world hostilities and intrastate armed conflict. A conversation around strategies to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in this context is therefore critical.

The perpetration of disappearances is a crisis which has worsened in the context of COVID-19. Conflict textiles are embroidered pieces of fabric which depict disappearances and other forms of violence, and are created to highlight and condemn these acts. They are a form of activism ‘from below’ that respond to human rights violations.

The international community’s awareness of the growing occurrence of pandemics and comparable disasters emerges from instruments like the Agenda for Sustainable Development. However, the soft law nature of such tools leaves their implementation to the inconsistent ‘good faith’ of national actions.

The rules that govern international assistance in emergency situations are found in two different legal orders: international humanitarian law and human rights law. This post examines developments concerning the latter.

#BuildBackBetter is one of the hashtags from the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It speaks to hope, and to history too.