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	Health inequities are shortening lives by decades by World Health Organization, agencies   May 2025   A global report published by the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights that the underlying causes of ill health often stem from factors beyond the health sector, such as lack of quality housing, education and job opportunities.   The new World report on social determinants of health equity shows that such determinants can be responsible for a dramatic reduction of healthy life expectancy – sometimes by decades – in high- and low-income countries alike.   For example, people in the country with the lowest life expectancy will, on average, live 33 years shorter than those born in the country with the highest life expectancy. The social determinants of health equity can influence people’s health outcomes more than genetic influences or access to health care.   “Our world is an unequal one. Where we are born, grow, live, work and age significantly influences our health and well-being,” said WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “But change for the better is possible. This world report illustrates the importance of addressing the interlinked social determinants and provides evidence-based strategies and policy recommendations to help countries improve health outcomes for all.”   The report underscores that inequities in health are closely linked to degrees of social disadvantage and levels of discrimination. Health follows a social gradient whereby the more deprived the area in which people live, the lower their incomes are and they have fewer years of education, poorer health, with less number of healthy years to live.   These inequities are exacerbated in populations that face discrimination and marginalization. One of the vivid examples is the fact that Indigenous Peoples have lower life expectancy than non-Indigenous Peoples in high- or low-income countries alike.   Social injustice driving inequities   The World report on social determinants of health equity is the first of its kind published since 2008 when the WHO Commission on Social Determinants of Health released its final report laying out targets for 2040 for reducing gaps between and within countries in life expectancy, childhood and maternal mortality. The 2025 world report, shows that these targets are likely to be missed.   Although data is scarce, there is sufficient evidence to show that health inequities within countries are often widening. WHO data cites that children born in poorer countries are 13 times more likely to die before the age of 5 than in wealthier countries. Modelling shows that the lives of 1.8 million children annually could be saved by closing the gap and enhancing equity between the poorest and wealthiest sectors of the population within low- and-middle-income countries.   The report shows that while there was a 40% decline in maternal mortality globally between 2000 and 2023, low- and lower-middle-income countries still account for 94% of maternal deaths.   Women from disadvantaged groups are more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes. In many high-income countries, racial and ethnic inequities in maternal death rates persist, for example, in some areas Indigenous women were up to three times more likely to die during childbirth. There are also strong associations between higher levels of gender inequality, including child marriage, and higher maternal mortality rates.   WHO emphasizes that measures to address income inequality, structural discrimination, conflict and climate disruptions are key to overcoming deep-seated health inequities. Climate change, for example, is estimated to push an additional 135 million people into extreme poverty over the next 5 years.   Currently, 3.8 billion people worldwide are deprived of adequate social protection coverage, with direct and lasting impact on their health outcomes.   High debt burdens have been crippling the capacity of governments to invest in these services, with the total value of interest payments made by the world’s 75 poorest countries increasing fourfold over the past decade.   World report on social determinants of health equity   Unacceptable gaps persist in how long people can hope to live healthy lives, depending on where they live, the community they belong to, their level of education, how much money they have, their gender, their race and ethnicity, whether they have a disability, and other characteristics.   Between countries, in 2021, the difference in life expectancy was as wide as 33 years. Inequalities of similar magnitude are seen within countries.   These inequities are not explained only by a country’s income level: of the 34 countries that over the past 20 years have halved premature death (before age 70), some are high-income, some middle- and some low-income. Similarly for those countries that have seen either minimal change or increases in premature deaths.   Inequities in life outcomes are closely linked to degrees of social disadvantage: health follows a social gradient whereby the more deprived the area in which people live, the lower their income, the fewer their years of education, the worse their health and the fewer healthy years they can expect to live.   Independent of income, marked inequalities in health are also seen among minority racial and ethnic groups, underprivileged castes, Indigenous Peoples, refugees and displaced populations, people with disabilities, and other groups experiencing marginalization and exclusion.   Health inequalities are the measurable differences in health across population subgroups, and health inequities are those differences that are avoidable and unjust. They are the result of political, cultural, social and economic systems that shape daily living conditions: the social determinants of health equity.   Although groups are defined on the basis of characteristics of individuals, it is the operation of social determinants of health, not properties of individuals, that account for most of the health inequities between groups.   In 2005, WHO convened the Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. Its goal was to support countries in tackling social determinants of health to improve health equity. It aimed to do so by catalysing policy and institutional change to address social determinants of health within countries. The Commission’s 2008 final report concluded that “social injustice is killing people on a grand scale” and “a toxic combination of poor policies and programmes, unfair economic arrangements, and bad governance” contributes to the unjust life chances of children and adults around the world.   Since the Commission, there has been some promising progress in reducing health gaps between countries. This progress is largely due to improved conditions of daily life – greater access to education and employment, improved housing and environments, and increased access to effective primary health care. However, these actions can only achieve so much within the context of inequitable political, cultural, social and economic systems that reward the most powerful, to the detriment of the least powerful.   The persistence of structural inequities has meant that action has not been at sufficient scale, nor sustained for long enough, to effect widespread and lasting improvements to health and health equity.   The social determinants of health – that is, the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work and age, and people’s access to power, money and resources – have a powerful influence on these avoidable and unjust health gaps.   These determinants are the main ways health is shaped, more so than access to health care services, or genetic influences. Social determinants encompass both downstream “intermediary” determinants, representing the conditions of daily life, and upstream “structural” determinants, representing governance, political and economic systems, and societal norms and values that shape who has access to resources and opportunities, and who does not.   The structural determinants create unequal distributions of money, power and resources according to a person’s social status, as defined by gender, age, education, income, race or ethnicity, disability status and other characteristics, which create inequities in the conditions of daily life that shape health. Therefore, structural determinants are the “root causes” of health outcomes .   This World report on social determinants of health equity emphasizes the need to focus on equity and levelling up all people’s health, creating healthier and more equitable societies. It emphasizes the need for action on structural determinants, because action on these “causes of the causes” is essential for achieving health equity.   http://www.who.int/teams/social-determinants-of-health/equity-and-health/world-report-on-social-determinants-of-health-equity http://www.bmj.com/content/389/bmj.r886 http://www.hhrjournal.org/2025/03/05/enforceable-commitments-to-global-health-needed-to-fulfill-rights/ http://equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles http://www.thelancet.com/countdown-health-climate http://www.msf.org/topics-portal http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a78185-food-nutrition-and-right-health-report-special-rapporteur-right http://www.who.int/publications/m/item/the-impact-of-suspensions-and-reductions-in-health-official-development-assistance-on-health-systems http://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2025/01/us-withdrawal-world-health-organization http://www.who.int/news/item/16-01-2025-who-launches-us-1.5-billion-health-emergency-appeal-to-tackle-unprecedented-global-health-crises   http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/open-statement-stop-spending-development-funds-profit-private-healthcare-providers http://www.oxfam.org/en/research/sick-development http://peoplesmedicines.org/ http://gi-escr.squarespace.com/latest-news/gi-escr-submits-an-input-on-the-right-to-health-and-development-finance-institutions-to-the-un-working-group-on-business-and-human-rights http://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-jayapal-dingell-hundreds-of-health-care-workers-introduce-medicare-for-all http://oneill.law.georgetown.edu/issues/human-rights/ http://theelders.org/news/leaders-must-uphold-scientific-integrity-over-political-opportunism http://www.instituteofhealthequity.org/resources-reports/marmot-review-10-years-on Visit the related web page
	All people are born equal: 60 years of the anti-racism convention by UN News, UN Office for Human Rights   21 Mar. 2025   UN Assistant Secretary-General for Human Rights Ilze Brands Kehris speech to UN General Assembly on International Day Against Racial Discrimination:   Sixty years ago, the world made a pledge to people everywhere, and to future generations, to strive for justice and equality.   The International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination was based on the simple but powerful idea at the core of our human rights framework: that all people are born equal.   In other words, that race, colour, descent or origin must not weigh people down, silence them, hold them back, exclude or isolate them, block their opportunities, make them targets, or endanger their lives.   The Convention is a symbol of our collective determination to eradicate racial hatred, bias, and inequality, and I join you today to commemorate its 60th anniversary.   This was a milestone treaty that was adopted in 1965 in the middle of a decade–of monumental change. Apartheid was deeply entrenched in South Africa. But at the same time, across the African continent and elsewhere, States were emerging from colonization.   Global civil rights movements were advocating for racial justice, and people were standing up and demanding equality, rights and recognition.   The Convention was a decisive step towards answering those demands, and it led to major progress. The years that followed saw the adoption of legal frameworks prohibiting racial discrimination.   The historic end to apartheid in South Africa. The establishment of mechanisms to monitor and address racism. In the last decade alone, more than 30 Member States changed their laws and policies to tackle racial discrimination and to address the specific issues faced by people of African descent – some for the first time.   The Convention also played a crucial role in advancing the First and Second International Decades for People of African Descent – which promote their human rights and celebrate their immense contributions to science, philosophy, music, art and societies everywhere.   We once again find ourselves in a period of turmoil. But if the era of 60 years ago was marked by hope and energy, I’m afraid that today it is rocked by unpredictability and potential fundamental changes. Acrimonious divisions and intolerance within societies and tensions and polarization between Member States keep increasing.   The global consensus around our international norms and institutions is being challenged. The core tenets of our human rights systems are being contested, and international law is being eroded.   And racism still permeates our institutions, social structures and everyday life in all societies. And I am alarmed by a wave of dehumanizing racist narratives that threatens to swamp our politics, media and online world.   Racial and ethnic groups are being targeted, isolated and scapegoated in all regions of the world. They are excluded because of their race, ignored because of their ethnicity, silenced by their nationality, attacked because of the colour of their skin.   Diversity is profoundly human and enriches our societies. And yet, because of it, millions of people are treated as sub-human. This is deplorable and the consequences are long-lasting. They seep from one generation to the next and they cement the gross inequality and discrimination in our world.   Racial discrimination damages us all. It feeds a vicious cycle that leads to division, unrest and conflict and very often is accompanied by other gross human rights violations.   Racism is further fuelled by the resurgence of nationalist populism and the promotion of ideologies of racial superiority, which harm individuals and societies as a whole, and threaten democracies, development, and the rule of law.   This in turn is amplified by the spread of vicious hate speech online and offline and by the opaque algorithms that underpin social media platforms and can reinforce prejudices.   Our gathering here today is an opportunity for States, national human rights institutions, civil society actors, the private sector, United Nations entities and individuals, to commit to concrete steps to combat racism, as well as to the obligations of the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.   Now is the time to fully implement our international human rights commitments. States need to lead the way by taking urgent and inclusive action – for the benefit of everyone in their societies.   They must adopt and implement strong, comprehensive legal and policy frameworks to eliminate racial discrimination, which ensure that victims have access to effective legal remedies and adequate reparation.   States must work closely with affected communities, ensuring that they are seen and listened to, and that their harm/suffering is recognized. Their meaningful, inclusive and safe participation in all aspects of life is a prerequisite to achieving vibrant democracies.   To effectively address specific inequalities, States need to collect, analyse and publish reliable statistical data, in accordance with international human rights law.   Education and awareness-raising campaigns among all populations, particularly youth, are vital to combat prejudices and harmful stereotypes that lead to racial discrimination. This is why the United Nations runs programmes and provides materials to help schools and teachers to combat racism in the classroom.   Children learn from society. If we practice racism, we teach racism, and children become what they are taught.   But if we act to uphold dignity and equality inherent in all human beings, then we can build a more just world for everyone.   The Convention is one of the most widely ratified human rights treaties. I encourage the remaining States who have not ratified it, to do so, and for all the State Parties to recognize the competence of the Committee to receive and consider communications from individuals or groups of individuals. This is one important step to support effective action and accountability.   Victims of racial discrimination in many countries continue to face barriers in accessing justice.   People of African descent, Indigenous peoples, Roma, and other ethnic minorities in particular continue to encounter obstacles when they seek accountability for alleged violations. Many expressed a lack of trust in law enforcement and the judicial system, which is further fuelled by impunity, whether perceived or real.   We need to rebuild this trust in government and institutions. Ensuring accountability for human rights violation is only one element. States must also take concrete steps to dismantle systemic, structural and institutional racism. In the area of law enforcement and the criminal justice system, this includes reforms to restrict the use of force and prohibit racial profiling; holding law enforcement officials accountable for violations; and providing redress for victims.   Acknowledging historical injustices is a critical step towards dismantling systemic, structural and institutional racism. It is only by truly confronting the enduring legacies of colonialism and enslavement that societies can effectively move towards reconciliation, healing and equality.   Racism has been a destructive part of our world for centuries. It is deeply ingrained – a social construct – carried on from one generation to the next. We must break that cycle, decisively and definitively.   It is high time that we live up to the promise at the core of the Convention. States must lead the way, but each one of us must stand up for justice and equality everywhere and every day.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/03/time-implement-international-human-rights-commitments-asg-brands http://www.un.org/en/observances/end-racism-day http://news.un.org/en/story/2025/03/1161396 http://www.ohchr.org/en/get-involved/stories/fighting-change-world-without-racism http://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/international-convention-elimination-all-forms-racial http://www.unicef.org/reports/rights-denied-discrimination-children   Aug. 2024   The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has issued its findings on Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Islamic Republic of Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela after reviewing the seven States parties in its latest session.   The findings contain the Committee’s main concerns and recommendations on the implementation of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as positive aspects. Key highlights include:   Belarus   The Committee highlighted its concern about live-threatening conditions faced by migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees at the Belarusian border with the European Union, citing reports of excessive use of force, arbitrary detention and difficulties accessing asylum procedures.   The Committee urged Belarus to take immediate action to protect the lives and safety of those at the border, prevent excessive use of force, and provide human rights training to border guards and law enforcement officials. It also called for continued cooperation with international organisations and other stakeholders to enhance human rights protections and ensure asylum procedures meet international standards..   Bosnia and Herzegovina   The Committee remained concerned about the persistent discrimination and marginalisation of Roma, which hinder their full enjoyment of rights under the Convention. Key issues include poor living conditions, limited access to public services and formal employment, especially for Roma women, inadequate healthcare, and low education enrollment and attendance rates for Roma children. The Committee urged the State party to intensify efforts to address systemic racial discrimination against Roma.   It recommended improving Roma housing and living conditions through genuine consultation, ensuring access to employment and vocational training, combating workplace discrimination, and increasing Roma children's enrollment and attendance in education. Additionally, it called for accessible and culturally appropriate healthcare services, particularly for Roma women and girls..   Pakistan   Highlighting escalated incidents in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from May to June 2024, the Committee underscored its concern over blasphemy accusations and subsequent mob lynchings and the destruction of places of worship, particularly targeting ethnic and ethno-religious minorities. The Committee questioned the impunity for these crimes, citing few arrests and convictions. The Committee underlined the right to fair trial of those accused of blasphemy, highlighting its concerns over the treatment of suspects, including deaths in police custody and prolonged legal proceedings.   It urged Pakistan to prevent and protect individuals and communities against violent reprisals, to repeal its blasphemy laws, ensure fair trials, and prosecute all acts of violence.   The Committee was alarmed by the mass exodus under the Illegal Foreigners’ Repatriation Plan, which saw 700,000 individuals, including 101,000 between April and June 2024, deported or returned to Afghanistan..   Iran   The Committee voiced serious concerns over reports of grave human rights violations and abuses committed by law enforcement officers against protestors belonging to ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups during the November 2019, July 2021 and September 2022 protests, particularly in the provinces predominately inhabited by these minority groups. It urged Iran to immediately conduct impartial investigations into allegations of violations and abuses of human rights committed by State actors during these protests and to provide reparation for the victims.   The Committee expressed concern over reports that ethnic and ethno-religious minorities are overrepresented in the criminal justice system and are disproportionately subjected to arbitrary detention and death sentences for broadly defined offences under the Islamic Criminal Code, as well as for drug-related offences..   Iraq   The Committee was concerned about reports that the decision to close all camps for internally displaced persons (IDP) by the end of 2024 could lead to forced and involuntary return of IDPs from ethnic and ethno-religious minority groups, warning that many of these individuals would have to return to areas severely damaged by armed conflict, with inadequate infrastructure.   The Committee urged Iraq to ensure that returns or resettlements are safe and genuinely voluntary. It also recommended efforts to integrate IDPs, rebuild their communities, and restore essential services while combating stigmatization and guaranteeing equal access to education, healthcare, employment, and housing, as protected under the Convention.   The Committee stated its concern over delays in providing reparations to victims, particularly women who have suffered grave human rights violations, and highlighted the absence of a legislative framework for prosecuting war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide..   The United Kingdom   The Committee expressed its concern about the persistence of hate crimes, hate speech and xenophobic incidents on various platforms and by politicians and public figures. It was particularly concerned about recurring racist acts and violence against ethnic and ethno-religious minorities, migrants, refugees and asylum-seekers by extremist far-right and white supremacist individuals and groups, including the violent acts committed in late July and early August 2024.   In calling for action, the Committee urged the United Kingdom to implement comprehensive measures to curb racist hate speech and xenophobic rhetoric, including from political and public figures. The Committee emphasized the need for thorough investigations and strict penalties for racist hate crimes, and effective remedies for the victims and their families.   The Committee expressed concern about the disproportionate impact of police stop-and-search practices, including strip searches, on ethnic minorities, especially children..   Venezuela   The Committee was seriously concerned about the negative impact of mining on indigenous lands and the livelihood of indigenous people. It highlighted the situation in the National Strategic Development Zone “Orinoco Mining Arc”, where indigenous territories were militarized, and military operations were carried out without due consultation, as well as human rights abuses and violations committed against indigenous peoples by actors linked to State entities, including members of the National Armed Forces, and non-State armed groups.   The Committee urged Venezuela to refrain from deploying military forces and conducting military operations in indigenous territories without prior consultation with the indigenous peoples concerned, and to establish effective accountability mechanisms for possible human rights violations if the use of military forces is strictly essential..   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/08/un-committee-elimination-racial-discrimination-publishes-findings-belarus http://www.ohchr.org/en/treaty-bodies/cerd   Ahead of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, a group of UN experts issued the following joint statement:   “The commemoration of the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is a moment to take stock of the persistent gaps in the implementation of our shared commitment to protect hundreds of millions of people whose human rights continue to be violated due to racial discrimination. It is also an opportunity to recommit to our promise to fight all forms of racism everywhere.   Through our work, we see clearly that racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance continue to be a cause of conflict around the world. We are witnessing a dangerous regression in the fight against racism and racial discrimination in many spaces. Minorities, people of African descent, people of Asian descent, Indigenous Peoples, migrants, including asylum seekers and refugees, are particularly vulnerable as they often face discrimination in all aspects of their lives based on their racial, ethnic or national origin, skin colour or descent.   In this regard, it is crucial that States implement their international human rights obligations and commitments under the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination and the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.   Initiatives aimed at revitalising multilateralism, including the Summit of the Future, provide an important opportunity to firmly establish the collective responsibility of States in ensuring concrete progress to address structural and systemic racial discrimination and its root causes.   We urge all States to push forward in the fight against racial discrimination. We also call on States to proclaim a second International Decade for People of African Descent, to ensure greater recognition, justice, and development for people of African descent, including by engaging meaningfully in reparatory justice processes for past injustices.”   July 2024   Racism and AI: “Bias from the past leads to bias in the future”.   “Recent developments in generative artificial intelligence and the burgeoning application of artificial intelligence continue to raise serious human rights issues, including concerns about racial discrimination,” says Ashwini K.P., UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia, and related intolerance.   There is an enduring and harmful notion that technology is neutral and objective, according to Ashwini, during her interactive dialogue for the launch of her new report at the UN Human Rights Council.   In her report, she explores how this assumption is allowing artificial intelligence to perpetuate racial discrimination.   “Generative artificial intelligence is changing the world and has the potential to drive increasingly seismic societal shifts in the future,” Ashwini K.P. said. “I am deeply concerned about the rapid spread of the application of artificial intelligence across various fields. This is not because artificial intelligence is without potential benefits. In fact, it presents possible opportunities for innovation and inclusion.”   A clear example of how racial biases are reproduced through technological advances is predictive policing. Predictive policing tools make assessments about who will commit future crimes, and where any future crime may occur, based on location and personal data.   “Predictive policing can exacerbate the historical over policing of communities along racial and ethnic lines,” Ashwini K.P. said. “Because law enforcement officials have historically focused their attention on such neighbourhoods, members of communities in those neighbourhoods are overrepresented in police records. This, in turn, has an impact on where algorithms predict that future crime will occur, leading to increased police deployment in the areas in question.”   According to her findings, location-based predictive policing algorithms draw on links between places, events, and historical crime data to predict when and where future crimes are likely to occur, and police forces plan their patrols accordingly.   “When officers in overpoliced neighbourhoods record new offences, a feedback loop is created, whereby the algorithm generates increasingly biased predictions targeting these neighbourhoods. In short, bias from the past leads to bias in the future".   As with location-based tools, past arrest data on people, often tainted by systemic racism in the criminal justice systems, can skew the future predictions of the algorithms, she said.   “The use of variables such as socioeconomic background, education level and location can act as proxies for race and perpetuate historical biases,” Ashwini K.P. said.   The report also provides a brief analysis of efforts to manage and regulate AI at the national, regional, and international levels.   “Artificial intelligence technology should be grounded in international human rights law standards,” Ashwini K.P. said. “The most comprehensive prohibition of racial discrimination can be found in the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.”   There are other rights where AI has posed a risk including AI in healthcare where some tools for creating health risk scores have been shown to have race-based correction factors. Ashwini K.P. also found when AI is applied to educational tools it can include racial bias.   For example, in academic and success algorithms, due to the design of the algorithms and the choice of data, the tools often score racial minorities as less likely to succeed academically and professionally, thus perpetuating exclusion and discrimination.   In his vision statement, “Human Rights: A Path for Solutions,” UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk said generative artificial intelligence offers new opportunities to move forward on the enjoyment of human rights, however, its negative societal impacts are already proliferating.   “In areas where the risk to human rights is particularly high, such as law enforcement, the only option is to pause until sufficient safeguards are introduced,” Turk said.   For Ashwini K.P., while artificial intelligence does have real potential for impact, it is not a solution for all societal issues and must be effectively managed to balance its benefits and risks. Regulating AI is also a way to ensure this balance.   She recommended that States address the challenge of regulating AI with a greater sense of urgency bearing in mind the perpetuation of racial discrimination; develop AI regulatory frameworks based on an understanding of systemic racism and Human Rights Law, enshrine a legally binding obligation to conduct comprehensive human rights due diligence assessments, including explicit criteria to assess racial and ethnic bias, in the development and deployment of all AI technologies; and consider prohibiting the use of AI systems that have been shown to have unacceptable human rights risks, including those that foster racial discrimination.   “Placing human rights at the centre of how we develop, use and regulate technology is absolutely critical to our response to these risks,” Turk said.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2024/07/racism-and-ai-bias-past-leads-bias-future http://www.ei-ie.org/en/item/29330:unions-leading-the-way-to-decolonise-education http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02358-4/fulltext Visit the related web page
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