Policy Brief to United Nations Human Rights Council

You are the Executive Director of a major human rights organization. You have been invited to submit a three-page policy brief to the UN Human Rights Council on the most pressing human rights issues related to your case study: the impact of COVID-19 on the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in the United States.
Paper style is AMA.
The brief should include:
a clear statement of the human rights issue(s) that you are brining to the Council’s attention;
an analysis of how these issues are impacting access to health and other essential services;
an analysis of how the current policies should either be reinforced or changed; and
your recommendations for improved policies and action.
For this policy brief, I am asking that you take on the role of an Executive Director of a human rights organization. You are writing to the UN Human Rights Council on a pressing human rights violation related to your case study. In some of your cases, there are obvious choices - e.g., forced labor of the Uyghurs in China, expulsion of the Rohingya from their homes in Myanmar, denial of humanitarian assistance in Tigray and/or Yemen, etc. In other cases, it might be more subtle, e.g., the exclusion of migrants from health and social services, forced immobiility (through the closing of borders), denial of the right to health, etc.
Choose one issue that is present in your case study. Do some research on it. For example, what do human rights conventions say about forced labor or the right to health or the delivery of humanitarian assistance? How are the stipulations of these conventions or agreements being violated in your case study?
What do you suggest that the UN Human Rights Council does in response to these violations?
Note: The UN Human Rights Council (the Council) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around he world. The Council has 47 government members elected for staggered three-year terms. The Council is carefully balanced to ensure representation of all regions. Its resolutions and decisions are not legally binding but do contain strong political commitments. The function of the Council is to ensure the effective implementation of human rights as guaranteed by international law, particularly of conventions and agreements adopted by the United Nations. The Council is sometimes criticized as being ineffective (because its decision are not binding) and/or hypocritical (because regions elect governements to the council that are known for human rights abuses). Both these criticisms are justified - yet countries submit regular reports to the Council on various issues and often adhere to its decisions and guidance. You can find out more about the Council via the website of the Office of the High Commisisoner for Human Rights.
While you are free to use the regular template for policy briefs, here is a template that might work better for this brief:
Executive Summary (same as current template - this summarizes the main issues you will raise and gives the main lines of your findings. For example: In this brief I will highlight the on-going violations of women's rights in Afghanistan and suggest that the Human Rights Council demand a report from the gvoernment on its plans to reinstate educaiton opportunities for all its citizens.)
Background (same as current template): Describe why the issue you are raising should be seen as a fundamental human right. Analyze the impact on population health and well-being when that right is denied. For example, I might describe the various UN and regional conventions that enshrine education as a fundamental right for all children. I would also provide some data and evidence of the correlation between lhigher levels of education and better health at various stages of the liffe cycle.
What is happening now (this corresponds to the Alternative Policies section of the current template): Describe how this right is being violated. For example, I might highlight the shut down of girls schools throughout Afghanistan and the restrictions put even on informal home schooling. I would note the number of girls that are denied the right to education and re-emphasize the long-term impacts on their health and well-being.
What the UN Human Rights Council should do (this corresponds to the Recommendations section of the current template): Describe actions that might be taken to improve or change policies related to the rights violation that you are highlighting. For example, I might suggest that the Afghanistan government be required to submit a report on its plans for re-opening schools; I might recommend that Afghanistan be excluded form certain UN privileges until it submits such a report, etc.
Conclusions (same as current template) Hightlight your main take-away points.
Required references out of the 5:
1. Essentials of Global Health, section 5
2. Lawrence Gosten et al, Human Rights and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Retrospective and Prospective Analysis, O’Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law, Georgetown University Law Center, November 2022
https://bbhosted(dot)cuny(dot)edu/bbcswebdav/pid-73234102-dt-content-rid-561930013_1/xid-561930013_1
3. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the World Health Organization, Right to Health, Fact Sheet No. 31, June 2008
https://bbhosted(dot)cuny(dot)edu/bbcswebdav/pid-73234102-dt-content-rid-561930014_1/xid-561930014_1