The lawmaking reflexes that followed the COVID 19 pandemic have shifted global health debates away from hard won human rights norms and toward more ambiguous ideas of equity and solidarity.
In this lecture, Dr. Roojin Habibi (University of Ottawa) traces this “equitification” of rights through the negotiations that led to the 2024 International Health Regulations amendments and the 2025 WHO Pandemic Agreement, showing how these global health law reforms foreground distributive justice while sidelining decades of human rights advancements under international law.
Reflecting on the human rights implications of the COVID-19 response and subsequent reforms, this presentation will bring into focus the work of communities of practice at the intersection of health and human rights, including those behind the Principles and Guidelines on Human Rights and Public Health Emergencies, and illustrate how such collaborations can help re anchor pandemic law in a richer body of human rights norms and shape a fairer approach to public health emergency prevention, preparedness, and response.
Dr. Roojin Habibi is an Assistant Professor at the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Law (Common Law Section) and serves as Investigator and Research Director of Global Health Law at the Global Strategy Lab, jointly based at York University and the University of Ottawa. Her research bridges international law, public health law, and human rights, with a focus on normative interpretation and change in global health law and governance.
Webinar available at https://unc.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_VFza1bBGQcanoMb-0B1FeQ
Sponsored by:
UNC Public Policy
UNC Center for Bioethics
UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health
To learn more about this Health and Human Rights Lecture Series, please see the Public Policy website.