With the global spread of COVID-19, businesses are facing bankruptcy at an unprecedented scale, resulting in job losses for millions. In this context, confidence in the durability of the global economy, and by extension the norms and institutions that support it, are being tested like never before. How businesses respond to the crisis—especially those firms who receive state support to continue operations—will shape public attitudes towards the private sector for years to come. In response to these circumstances, UNDP has designed a simple and accessible tool, the Human Rights Due Diligence and COVID-19: Rapid Self-Assessment for Business (C19 Rapid Self-Assessment), to help businesses consider and manage the human rights impacts of their operations. This non-exhaustive list of potential actions allows for rapid but continuous reflection on the human rights risks and impacts common to many industries. The C19 Rapid Self-Assessment is offered to companies as a partial but informative view of human rights actions in the specific context of COVID-19. The listed actions are based on relevant provisions of UN Human Rights Treaties, the ILO Fundamental Conventions, and the UNGPs. It is organized to present key actions or considerations along three stages of the COVID-19 crisis period: Prepare, Respond and Recover. The C19 Rapid-Self Assessment is also inspired and guided by the global UNDP COVID-19 Integrated Response Offer. The tool has been developed within the framework of the Business and Human Rights in Asia (B+HR Asia) programme as a joint product of the Enabling Sustainable Economic Growth through the Protect, Respect and Remedy Framework project funded by the European Union and the Promoting Responsible Business Practices through Regional Partnerships project funded by the Government of Sweden.   , full_html, This tool is designed to help businesses consider and manage the human rights impacts of their operations in the specific context of COVID-19. It presents key actions or considerations along three stages of the COVID-19 crisis period: Prepare, Respond and Recover.

​The COVID-19 pandemic has brought chaos, uncertainty and supply chain disruptions to the global economy, impacted lives and livelihoods, and tested the resilience of governance systems, institutions and mechanisms in responding to the crisis. As the technical lead for the socio-economic response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the UN system, UNDP and its Country Offices worldwide are working to assess the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on economies and communities to develop and implement effective strategies for COVID-19 response and recovery. Yet, there is a lack of knowledge and guidance on how to integrate transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in socio-economic impact analysis, and most socio-economic analyses do not assess the impact of COVID-19 from a governance and anti-corruption perspective. In addition, there is a lack of coordination between anti-corruption institutions and the institutions focusing on socio-economic aspects. This guidance note provides a practical methodology, including checklist questions, on how to integrate transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in social and economic needs assessment and response in the context of COVID-19. It elaborates on the following three steps to be taken: (1) Assess the overall impact of transparency, accountability and anti-corruption on policies/processes, institutions and the overall enabling environment for transparency, accountability and openness; (2) Assess the corruption risks in procurement processes, service delivery, health and emergency funds, and social safety nets and economic stimulus packages; (3) Integrate transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in socio-economic response. , full_html, This guidance note provides a practical methodology, including checklist questions, on how to integrate transparency, accountability and anti-corruption in social and economic needs assessment and response in the context of COVID-19.

“The COVID-19 pandemic is a public health emergency — but it is far more. It is an economic crisis.  A social crisis.  And a human crisis that is fast becoming a human rights crisis.” – Secretary General, António Guterres To help countries tackle the devastating social and economic dimensions of the pandemic, with a focus on at-risk groups, the UN issued the UN framework for the immediate socio- economic response to COVID-19 (SERF) in April 2020. The SERF sets out the strategy and blueprint for the UN’s urgent socio-economic response to countries and societies in the face of COVID-19. Organized by the five streams of work that constitute the SERF (Health First; Protecting People; Economic Response and Recovery; Macroeconomic Response and Multilateral Collaboration; and Social Cohesion and Community Resilience), this checklist provides a list of potential actions, tools, and resources to ensure a human rights-based approach to socio-economic country responses to COVID-19.  This checklist was developed by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the United Nations Development Cooperation Office (UN DCO) as the secretariat for the United Nations Sustainable Development Group (UNSDG).        , full_html, This checklist provides a list of potential actions, tools, and resources to ensure a human rights-based approach to socio-economic country responses to COVID-19.

This note is intended to provide practical guidance to UNDP Country Offices on how to design effective rapid responses to information pollution and how to situate those in longer-term approaches.  As such it provides both immediately practicable intervention approaches as well as longer-term programmatic considerations.  Specifically, the note aims to provide: 1.     Key definitions and common terminology 2.     Options for immediate to short-term initiatives to counter Information pollution 3.     Guidance for long-term strategies 4.     Policy recommendations 5.     Useful resources and resource hubs , full_html, This note provides guidance to UNDP Country Offices on how to design rapid responses to information pollution and how to situate those in longer-term approaches.

The COVID-19 pandemic and states' responses to it are having an unprecedented effect on the functioning of justice systems globally. Courts are closing, reducing, or adjusting their operations, which can negatively impact the provision of timely and fair hearings, contribute to increased case backlogs, and lead to increased length of judicial and administrative proceedings. Certain groups, including women and children at risk of violence, undocumented migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers, and those in migrant detention centres are acutely affected by these changes. Reduced court operations may also result in the prolonged detention of pretrial detainees or of prisoners eligible for early release. Without functioning judicial oversight, persons detained while emergency measures are in place to contain the virus may not be brought before a judge in a timely manner. As states enact emergency regulations to counter the spread of COVID-19, judicial oversight of the implementation of emergency measures is critical to avoid the excessive use of emergency powers. The socio-economic impact of the crisis will also have significant justice-related implications as inequalities are exacerbated. Specific efforts will be required to improve access to legal services and legal information to empower people and communities to resolve their disputes, seek redress for rights violations, or counter discrimination on a range of issues including housing, employment, legal/residency status, access to health benefits or other social protection mechanisms. This publication highlights some considerations and strategic entry points for practitioners in ensuring access to justice for all in the context of COVID-19. It emphasizes the importance of upholding the rule of law, protecting and respecting international human rights standards and basic principles of legality, including the rights to equality before the courts and to a fair trial, as part of preparation, response, and recovery efforts on COVID-19. , full_html, This publication highlights some considerations and strategic entry points for practitioners in ensuring access to justice for all in the context of COVID-19.