The US Must Reaffirm Its Commitment to Human Rights Amid COVID-19

The Intersection: Human Rights

IRMAK SENSOZ: The COVID-19 pandemic has been perhaps the greatest test of both domestic leadership and the viability of international cooperation in our lifetime. All world leaders, regardless of their country’s system of government, population or location, face the same challenge of controlling a viral outbreak inside their borders. Leaders like Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who eliminated COVID-19 in New Zealand after a swift lockdown, have used science-based measures to curb the loss of human life within their borders. Others, particularly Donald Trump, have neglected the seriousness of the virus, leading to thousands of deaths and an uncontrollable public health crisis.  

As these domestic policy challenges continue to be at the forefront of leaders’ minds, it is also important to recognize that COVID-19 is, more broadly, an issue of global human rights. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including … medical care and necessary social services.” During an era in which a lack of access to reliable testing and medical supply shortages are commonplace throughout the world, we must work to uphold Article 25. As such, this crisis has presented a need for countries to reaffirm a dedication to global human rights through cross-border cooperation. 

 However, in light of this necessity, the United States' foreign policy has been marked by an ever-deteriorating commitment to global institutions, human rights, and even bilateral cooperation.To date, the Trump administration has committed $2.25 billion to fighting coronavirus abroad.  The Chinese development of “mask diplomacy”, a foreign aid framework that systematically provides medical supplies and funds to struggling countries, dwarfs this sum. At the same time, the US has been diverting critical resources by outbidding original buyers and diverting domestically manufactured medical supplies (such as N-95 masks) from being sent abroad. Perhaps most egregiously, President Trump announced that the US would be pulling out of the World Health Organization (WHO) and no longer funding the institution’s efforts during the height of the outbreak. 

Of course, none of these courses of action are new for the Trump Administration. Throughout the past four years, the US has engaged in frivolous trade wars, abandoned critical treaties, and distanced itself from institutions like NATO and the United Nations. This isolationist approach to policy sharply contrasts with President Obama's collaborative outlook, who once noted that “multilateralism regulates hubris.” While the focus on international cooperation may have faltered since the Obama administration, foreign policy during the COVID-19 pandemic is indicative of the complete deterioration of America’s commitment to human rights abroad. 

There are two critical steps the United States must take to reverse its abandonment of Article 25. First, at the most basic level, America must increase the amount of funding and resources that it is willing to commit to aid abroad. As previously mentioned, many countries are struggling to ensure that their citizens can have access to basic medical supplies such as masks and testing kits. Without a strong US response, this vacuum will be filled by Chinese efforts. For instance, Serbia’s President Vučić noted during an address declaring COVID-19 a national emergency that “China is the only country that can help.” China’s human rights record, from its cultural genocide of the Uyghurs to stifling democracy in Hong Kong, is abysmal. The United States cannot allow for China to take a leadership role in global human rights. 

Second, the United States must radically change the way it approaches global public health. In 2019, the US spent $4.78 billion on HIV/AIDS initiatives — nearly half of all of its global health spending. As shown most succinctly by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is wrong to deal with public health crises in this reactive way. It is simply not enough to pour funding into a particular disease when it becomes an outbreak. Rather, we must work towards creating a framework that emphasizes prevention, dealing with a virus before it infects a large number of people. This means that the US will have to take concrete steps to ensure that both its healthcare system and the systems of other countries will be more robust. A systematic, preventative approach to public health begins during the COVID-19 pandemic but does not end after we have returned to a so-called “normal”. Building strong public health systems must be the new focus of US global public health policy. Such an initiative is critical to realize the human rights to medical care outlined in Article 25.

While COVID-19 continues to plague countries around the world, the United States must reverse its dedication to global human rights. As the leader of one of the world's richest countries, the Trump administration is in a unique position to support other countries who do not have the resources to deal with this pandemic. We cannot allow for China to take power in the vacuum left by the President’s refusal to make substantive commitments to other countries. I call on the US to increase its funding of foreign aid during the pandemic and to, in the long term, radically change its global public health funding by using a systematic, preventative approach. The US has long been a proponent of international cooperation and human rights. We cannot neglect this position when the world is facing a grave crisis. 

Irmak Sensoz is a sophomore in the School of Foreign Service studying International Politics, Turkish, and Persian. She is particularly interested in contemporary U.S. foreign policy and Middle Eastern studies.