We can either allow health care in conflict affirm at the highest levels that protecting health care is a legal obligation and a moral imperative – including in times of war” “ SECURITY FROM WAR, CONFLICT AND CRIME 7.1 to be targeted and eroded, or we can
In short, we stand with the brave doctors, nurses and other healthcare workers in war zones, who often put their own health and lives at risk to protect others. The political choices before us are stark. We can either allow health care in conflict to be targeted and eroded, or we can affirm at the highest levels that protecting health care is a legal obligation and a moral imperative – including in times of war. We can either allow misinformation, disinformation and distrust to corrode global solidarity, or we can invest in human dignity, truth, participation and transparency as the lifeblood of resilient societies. Protecting health care is not only about saving lives in the present. It is about preserving our common humanity and creating conditions for societies to recover, rebuild and thrive. with a determination to build peace on foundations of dignity and rights. Today, that determination must be rekindled by strengthening the human rights pillar – which anchors our collective response to crises in law, in principle and in humanity. This is how, together, we can turn towards renewal and ensure that the promise of health as a human right continues for generations to come. ▪ As the United Nations marks its 80th year, this must be a moment for recommitment and renewal. Our organisation was founded in response to the devastation of war,
on medical facilities. This is a dangerous normalisation of violations that should never be tolerated, and I urge governments to take immediate action to end it. DELIVERING ON THE COMMITMENT TO PROTECT The United Nations Security Council and all member states must urgently address these failures, and renew their commitment to uphold international humanitarian and human rights law, in keeping with Security Council Resolution 2286 (2016). States have an obligation to integrate the protection of health care into military planning, emergency preparedness and response, and to operationalise precautionary measures. My office’s unique role is to bring the full force of international human rights law and humanitarian law to bear on these issues. We have stepped up our engagement on the protection of health care in conflict, precisely because this issue is so critical in today’s fractured world. We work to expose the direct and indirect consequences of attacks, which range from the destruction of facilities and killings of healthcare workers and patients to impacts on individuals, communities and societies. We advocate for accountability, for political engagement at the highest levels, and for sustained dialogue and international cooperation to close the gap between commitments and reality.
VOLKER TÜRK Volker Türk assumed the role of United Nations high commissioner for human rights in 2022. He was previously the under-secretary-general for policy in the Executive Office of the United Nations Secretary-General. He was assistant secretary-general for strategic coordination from 2019 to 2021 and assistant high commissioner for protection in the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees from 2015 to 2019. He also served UNHCR in Malaysia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Kuwait. X-TWITTER @volker_turk and @UNHumanRights www.ohchr.org
Health: A Political Choice – The Future of Health in a Fractured World 91
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