Monthly Archives: September 2020

In a new report requested by the Human Rights Council, the Commission of Inquiry on Burundi said that there had been “little” in the way of “positive changes” since President Evariste Ndayishimiye “assumed office” in June.

Additional findings by the Commission indicated that the country’s human rights situation remains at risk of deteriorating, even after the 2020 elections were held.

This conclusion is supported by numerous recent security incidents and the “continued domination of the public sphere by the Imbonerakure”, the youth wing of the ruling party in Government.

They act as “de facto security agents” in many rural areas, the investigators explained, while also highlighting the “proliferation of hate speech” during the election.

This included using inflammatory rhetoric “with an ethnic dimension”, which remained a tool that could be used by the authorities whenever it was deemed politically expedient, the Commissioners said.

The warning comes from UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery, Tomoya Obokata, who presented his first report to a virtual session of the UN Human Rights Council on Wednesday.

“Historical levels of underemployment or unemployment, loss of livelihoods and uncertain economic perspectives are some of the complex consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic which have hit the most vulnerable hardest”, he told members.

“Combined with weak safety nets and a dismantling of labour rights and social protection regulations in some countries, there is an acute risk that the poorest will be pushed into bonded labour, forced labour or other contemporary forms of slavery for survival.”

Globally, the number of children living in poverty soared to nearly 1.2 billion – a 15 per cent increase since the pandemic hit earlier this year, according to a technical note on impact of COVID-19 on child poverty, issued on Thursday by the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the NGO Save the Children.

Although the analysis paints a dire picture already, UNICEF warns the situation will likely worsen in the months to come.

“COVID-19 and the lockdown measures imposed to prevent its spread have pushed millions of children deeper into poverty,” said Henrietta Fore, UNICEF Executive Director.

“Families on the cusp of escaping poverty have been pulled back in, while others are experiencing levels of deprivation they have never seen before. Most concerningly, we are closer to the beginning of this crisis than its end.”