A/HRC/45/21 right to development was a key component of OHCHR advocacy efforts for an effective response to the pandemic, notably in relation to debt relief, financial and technological support, easing of sanctions and unilateral coercive measures, access to medicines and sharing the benefits of scientific progress. 18. On 20 May 2020, the Secretary-General launched a policy brief on the impact of COVID-19 in Africa. 24 He called for international action to strengthen health systems, maintain food supplies, avoid a financial crisis, support education, protect jobs, keep households and businesses afloat and cushion the continent against lost income and export earnings. He said that African countries should have quick, equal and affordable access to any eventual vaccine and treatment, which must be considered global public goods. The High Commissioner and the Chair of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights issued a joint statement25 urging equitable access for COVID-19-related diagnostic tools, therapies and vaccines and calling upon creditors of African countries to freeze, restructure or relieve countries’ debts. They stressed that international solidarity with the people and Governments of Africa was a matter of human rights and that priority should be given to investing more in health, water and sanitation, social protection, employment and sustainable infrastructure to ensure that no one was left behind. In April 2020, the High Commissioner expressed serious concern about the challenges faced by the Sudan during the COVID-19 pandemic which coincided with a political transition, and called for unilateral sanctions to be lifted, debt relief and swift and generous financial and technical international support.26 19. In February, the Secretary-General launched The Highest Aspiration: A Call to Action for Human Rights.27 One of the seven priority areas of the call – that rights are at the core of sustainable development – underscores that a human rights-based approach to development leads to more sustainable, powerful and effective outcomes. There is a link between the right to development and other overarching principles of the call to action, namely those touching on: rights in times of crisis; gender equality and equal rights for women; public participation and civic space; the rights of future generations, especially climate justice; rights at the heart of collective action; and new frontiers of human rights. The Executive Office of the Secretary-General and OHCHR are leading the United Nations system-wide effort to translate the call to action into concrete action on the ground. 20. OHCHR actively contributed to the United Nations system’s work on the least developed countries, including to The Least Developed Countries Report 2019 of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).28 OHCHR cooperated with the Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States and the Office of the Special Adviser on Africa in preparation for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, at which participants aim to adopt a new 10-year programme of action for the least developed countries.29 OHCHR also contributed to the work of expert committees. For instance, it submitted comments on draft graduation assessments of the least developed countries to the Committee for Development Policy. The comments related to the right to development, including the exercise of this right by minorities and indigenous peoples. 21. OHCHR continued its efforts to mainstream the right to development considerations into reports and statements. For example, the reports of the Secretary-General 30 and the High Commissioner31 on international cooperation in the field of human rights highlighted the right to development. In her statement to participants in the regional meeting for Africa on the International Decade for People of African Descent, the High Commissioner argued 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/files/sg_policy_brief_on_covid-19_impact_on_africa_may_2020.pdf. www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25898. www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25833. www.un.org/sg/sites/www.un.org.sg/files/atoms/files/The_Highest_ Asperation_A_Call_To_Action_For_Human_Right_English.pdf. https://unctad.org/en/pages/PublicationWebflyer.aspx?publicationid=2571. http://unohrlls.org/unldc-v/. A/74/351. A/HRC/44/28. 5