The Equity Turn in Global Health Reforms post-COVID-19: a Human Rights Retreat?

​This project aims to introduce an innovative stream of research among human rights scholars in global health in evaluating a potential shift to an equity-based model of justice in the ongoing global health reforms after the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative anticipates the submission of at least two major academic papers to leading peer-reviewed journals, setting critical questions and opening avenues for future research. Additionally, there is significant potential for public engagement and outreach with key stakeholders, as detailed below.

1.A Retreat of Human Rights in Global Health Post-Pandemic Instruments?
This article examines the decline in human rights references within global health negotiation and its governance implications. It analyses thematic patterns in human rights usage, highlighting areas where equity has prevailed over rights-based approaches. The piece may show stakeholders increasingly framing market interventions as matters of equity rather than human rights, reflecting low awareness of its potential engagement. Prospective publication: Journal of Human Rights or Human Rights Law Review.

2.Why Embracing Human Rights is Still Strategic for Global Health Security
This article argues that human rights frameworks provide enforceability that equity alone lacks, underpinning governance structures and enabling local engagement with international law. It tries to disentangle equity from human rights, demonstrating the missed opportunities in the global health reforms when justice claims were solely articulated as equity. Drawing on examples such as the Paris Agreement’s rights-based enforcement mechanisms, it will demonstrate how rights frameworks enhance accountability. Target journals include International and Comparative Law Quarterly or American Journal of International Law.

3.Commentary and Dissemination
A shorter commentary or editorial, co-authored with leading global health lawyers from the Global Health Law Consortium, will warn of the overreliance on equity as a normative framework for global health for a broader audience in journals like The Lancet. Additionally, I plan to present these findings at an international conference (such as the Global Health Security Conference) and host a private, Chatham House Rule discussion with the WHO’s human rights unit during a Global Health Law Consortium meeting, facilitating knowledge dissemination. These meetings are held online and could be undertaken during my residency at Brocher at the end of the project.