While homelessness is certainly not a new phenomenon, the inequalities exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic in access to housing, in physical and mental health, and in the area of work can no longer be ignored.

The UN Human Rights Office welcomes the political momentum by the EU institutions to tackle homelessness, including the leadership demonstrated by Commissioner Schmidt and the landmark resolution adopted by the European Parliament in January 2021 on decent and affordable housing for all. We welcome the adoption of the European Platform on Combating Homelessness (the Platform) as part of the Action Plan to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of freedom of opinion and expression has just launched a call for comments on opportunities, challenges and threats to media.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, remote work became the new normal, and so did virtual internships. Louis Ducarme, a 30-year-old law graduate from Belgium specialized in EU Law started his internship with the Regional Office for Europe in Brussels in March, just two weeks before the country and the regional office went into full lockdown.

The Covid-19 pandemic – and the measures taken to combat it – have upended many lives. For millions of people around the world, the pandemic has brought about a protracted period of uncertainty, isolation, and hardship, with an end not yet in clear view. And those already in a precarious situation before the crisis have been hit the hardest, with women particularly afflicted.

National monitoring mechanisms should play a key role in instilling a human rights culture in border management entities, writes Birgit Van Hout.

On 23 February 2021, the UN Human Rights Regional Office for Europe and UNHCR held a consultation of international and regional human rights mechanisms and international organizations on the proposal, in the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum, to establish national human rights monitoring mechanisms in all EU member States. Below is the note of the consultation.

The United Nations Brussels Team in its joint letter welcomes the adoption of the EU Action Plan for Human Rights and Democracy 2020-2024.