Volume 5 No 1

Permanent URI for this collection

https://repository.gchumanrights.org/handle/20.500.11825/2452

Contents

Global Classroom: The COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic rights

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic rights
Rachel Kurian

The right to education in the Caucasus in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic
Sergey Ghazinyan, Ana Teresa Corzanego Khatounian, Christina Tatoueva, Jakub Wojsyk and Zemfira Gogueva

A she-cession? Exploring labour policy responses to COVID-19 and their impact on women's right to work in Europe
Chiara Altafin, Manuela Baiker, Ríon McCall Magan, Francesca Mancarella and Mariana Ferreira

The pandemic and access to healthcare: Economic inequality and marginalisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia
Miloš Burzan, Imane Bellaadem, Selma Alispahić, Carolina Muzzillo and Giulia Russo

The realisation of the right to social security during COVID-19 in Africa: Case studies of Cameroon, Kenya and South Africa
Ashina Mtsumi, Lihle Mabuza, Benjamin Tonga, Robert Akoto Amoafo and Wilson Macharia

Envisioning the new normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic: Inequality, COVID-19 and vulnerability
Dharmendra Bahadur Dhami, Zhouzheng Huang, Graciela Awkit and Sirikanya Santayakul

Article

A critical review of the relationship between academic freedom and democracy in Ghana’s public universities: From pre-independence to the Fourth Republic
Kwadwo Appiagyei-Atua

Review

Enhancing children’s participation in research: A review of ‘the limits of giving voice’
Mark P. Capaldi

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  • Item
    A she-cession? Exploring labour policy responses to COVID-19 and their impact on women's right to work in Europe
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Altafin, Chiara ; Baiker, Manuela ; McCall Magan, Ríon ; Mancarella, Francesca ; Ferreira, Mariana
    Women’s right to work in Europe has been disproportionately affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. This article explores how and to what extent certain European countries have developed labour policy responses reflecting a feminist human rights preparedness during the pandemic’s first two years. The impacts of the policies on women’s right to work in Italy, Portugal, Ireland and Germany are examined under critical policy analysis (CPA) methodology and from a human rights-based approach. Ultimately, it is argued that these states failed to immediately address the disproportionately gendered impacts in the labour market. Across all case studies, the analysis identifies a shortfall in protection for certain categories of women which has challenged the fulfilment of their right to work and left them in a state of ‘she-cession’. As a result, previous structures and tendencies defining the roles of women in society have been reinforced. In light of such unpreparedness, policy recommendations are elaborated upon from a feminist human rights perspective, in which attention is given to: intersectionality; dynamics of social hierarchies and power structures affecting access to rights; equal participation in policy decision-making; availability of data on the impact of states’ ongoing responses; and engagement with relevant stakeholders to monitor and ensure women’s enjoyment of the right to work.
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    Enhancing children’s participation in research: A review of ‘the limits of giving voice’
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2021) Capaldi, Mark P.
    In 2020, a special collection of articles was published in the International Journal of Qualitative Methods (IJQM) under the title Constructions of “Children’s Voices” in Qualitative Research. The collection was timely as, with the onset of the global pandemic, the ways that children have been involved in data collection have highlighted the varied vulnerabilities and ethical dilemmas that some groups of children can face when participating in research. However, the need for child-centred research approaches is not new. ‘Giving a voice’ to vulnerable and excluded children has long been accepted as an important basis for a more accurate and nuanced understanding of children’s experiences, and for a less ‘top down’ approach to protection, welfare policies and programmes.
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    A critical review of the relationship between academic freedom and democracy in Ghana’s public universities: From pre-independence to the Fourth Republic
    (Global Campus of Human Rights, 2021) Appiagyei-Atua, Kwadwo
    The present work undertakes a critical assessment of academic freedom at Ghana’s public universities. Attention is placed on how the laws enacted to regulate the functioning of public universities have influenced or are likely to influence respect for academic freedom in public universities in Ghana. The paper seeks to articulate a correlation between the democratic credentials and the level of respect for academic freedom on the country’s university campuses. Three key decisions taken by the present government which threaten academic freedom are discussed. They are: the incidents leading to the closure of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in October 2018; the tensions arising in the Technical University Teachers Association of Ghana (TUTAG); and the unsuccessful attempt by the government to enact the Public Universities Bill 2020. To deal with the threat to academic freedom through managerialism, the paper calls for the democratisation of academic freedom on university campuses. This is premised on the fulfilment of responsibilities attached to the enjoyment of academic freedom by members of the academic community—the university, academics and students—towards each other. The place of the State, as the principal dutybearer in the academic freedom matrix, is considered as pivotal in facilitating this process.
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    The right to education in the Caucasus in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Ghazinyan, Sergey ; Corzanego Khatounian, Ana Teresa ; Tatoueva, Christina ; Wojsyk, Jakub ; Gogueva, Zemfira
    This paper is intended to initiate an international discussion on the implementation of the right to education during the global healthcare crisis. For that purpose, it analyses the experiences of Armenia, Russia, Georgia and Belarus in the light of measures taken by the authorities to respond to the new challenges, and examines the concrete situation faced by children and teachers in the region. It aims to identify the most common and visible problems that occurred in the Caucasus region during the Covid-19 pandemic, based on available data from particular countries. For comprehensive analysis of the issue, the present paper discusses the right to education as defined in international law, and looks at the main challenges inherent in the four pillars of the right to education as framed by UNESCO: accessibility, availability, acceptability and adaptability of education. As sources of information, it considers the observations of relevant domestic and international stakeholders, including the National Human Rights Institutions (NHRI), Human Rights Watch (HRW), UNESCO and UNICEF, as well as various academic sources. In each case, the response to issues generated by the COVID-19 pandemic is analysed in the context of other social factors. The article concludes that, while some examples of response could be seen in the countries under discussion, the lack of structured, informed, and timely responses made it difficult for children to fully enjoy their right to education. The paper provides recommendations targeted to the issues revealed, with the aim of improving state systems of response to the global healthcare crisis within the framework of implementing the right to education.
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    Global Campus Human Rights Journal, Volume 5 No 1
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) [...]
    This volume of the Global Campus Human Rights Journal consists of three parts. The first part is a collection of articles on the COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic rights in variois regions of the world. This was the theme of the Global Classroom in 2021, organised every year by Global Campus of Human Rights. The second part includes an article by Kawado Appiagyei-Atua which undertakes a critical assessment of academic freedom at Ghana’s public universities. The last part is a review on children's participation in qualitative research by Mark Capaldi.
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    Pandemic and the access to healthcare: Economic inequality and marginalisation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Burzan, Miloš ; Bellaadem, Imane ; Alispahić, Selma ; Muzzillo, Carolina ; Russo, Giulia
    Access to healthcare for Roma people and older adults (65+) in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and Croatia has been hampered by the COVID-19 pandemic. In responding to the pandemic, neither BiH nor Croatia have sufficiently addressed the complex and nuanced vulnerabilities of these social groups. By employing a comparative approach between the two countries, the article presents in-group and between-group differences based on gender, ethnicity, age, place of residence and legal status. The marginalisation of the Roma and older people is traced back to the structural inequalities associated with transitional state apparatus, corruption and neoliberal policies in both countries. While similar discriminatory trends are observed in both countries, the data indicate that the Croatian state apparatus is more organised in securing access to healthcare than that of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
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    The realisation of the right to social security during COVID-19 in Africa: Case studies of Cameroon, Kenya and South Africa
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Mtsumi, Ashina ; Mabuza, Lihle ; Tonga, Benjamin ; Amoafo, Robert Akoto ; Macharia, Wilson
    The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and further exacerbated the inequalities that existed within states. The right to social security constituted a crucial part of the response to COVID-19 in various African states. This was premised on the recognition of the social cost associated with the pandemic, particularly the impact of lockdowns on populations. This paper interrogates how three African countries (Cameroon, Kenya and South Africa) fulfilled their obligations at the peak of the pandemic with respect to the right to social security. Contrary to what is often assumed, these countries made important strides in assisting households through the loss of livelihoods caused by the pandemic. However, our finding concluded that the informal sector (which is a major source of income) was not adequately addressed, nor were the needs of the most vulnerable sufficiently met. The countries did not have sufficiently comprehensive social security policies to respond effectively to the pandemic. African governments need to invest more money, time and human resources into strengthening the resilience of social security systems and addressing the persistent challenges of corruption, lack of proper planning, and absence of data which confront those who need help the most and prevent rationalisation of the debt burden.
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    Envisioning the new normal in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic: Inequality, COVID-19 and vulnerability
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Dharmendra Bahadur, Dhami ; Huang, Zhouzheng ; Awkit, Graciela Ann ; Santayakul, Sirikanya
    The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely affected millions of people across the globe. The pandemic inarguably impacted the social and economic lives of all people, especially in vulnerable and minority groups. This research aimed to identify the pre-pandemic discourse of normalcy among vulnerable and minority groups, and a split in the discourse of the ‘new normal’ which lessens the likelihood that a new-normal regime will emerge to enhance the resilience of these groups in future crises. The research includes cases of vulnerable and minority groups from four Asian countries: orphans in Thailand, Dalits in Nepal, Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Philippines, and elderly people in China. Orphan children in Thailand experienced devastating consequences from the pandemic, being deprived of education, government assistance, medical care and vaccination. Dalits in Nepal are the victims of age-old caste-based discrimination, and they were further discriminated against by pandemic relief distribution and recovery programs and in quarantines. They were excluded from government remedies, denied admission to hospitals, and expelled from work places. Some starved to death due to financial and food crises, and their children were deprived of basic rights including education. In the Philippines, the pandemic had an appalling impact on OFWs and their families, exacerbating non-payment of wages, wage theft and discrimination. Government job preservation guidelines weren’t effective for OFWs, especially for undocumented migrant workers. Finally, in China, elderly people were one of the vulnerable groups most impacted by the pandemic. They faced declines in service quality and mental health, and a shortage of professional staff in nursing homes. Their lack of digital literacy excluded them from pandemic monitoring, online medical care and contactless government services. Through these four cases, the research identifies gaps in the pandemic response and remedies of the states for the vulnerable and minority groups. The paper proposes that, instead of a model treating these health crises, economic crises and social crises as consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, they should be treated as separate issues for specific minority and vulnerable groups to allow appropriate responses to the pandemic-induced challenges that they experience.
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    Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic and socio-economic rights
    (Global Campus Human Rights, 2021) Kurian, Rachel
    COVID-19 is the respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which was first detected in Wuhan, China, in 2019. On 30 January 2020 the World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern and on 11 March assessed it as a pandemic. Since its onset, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected 221 countries and territories, and caused millions of deaths. In the wake of the pandemic, governments initially focused on accessing and distributing vaccines, enforcing social distancing and mask-wearing, closing schools and public events, and restricting the movement of people via border closures, lockdowns and curfews, to avoid the spread of the virus. While some of these measures were eased up in 2021, there was continued vigilance on minimising risk of exposure as, in many countries, the easing has also been associated with the occurrence of more cases. While the macro-level figures have been contested, as have the policies and priorities of governments, they highlight to some extent the spread and intensity of the pandemic and the efforts by governments to contain the infection. What they do not fully reveal are the inequalities and inequities in the occurrence and experience of the virus globally and within countries, and how marginalised and discriminated groups were often exposed to greater risks in the context of COVID-19. It is therefore essential from a social justice and human rights perspective to use a political economy framework and analyse the challenges that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed for vulnerable groups, and to struggle to ensure that post-pandemic growth be guided and embedded in a more equitable and inclusive pattern of development.