COVID-19 Toolkit for Civil Society Partners

This Rights and Security International toolkit provides a guide for CSOs to anticipate emergency laws and policies; scrutinize the content of the laws and policies; the process by which they are passed; and identify and respond to emergency measures.

"This COVID-19 civil society toolkit is designed to provide a guide for civil society organisations to anticipate emergency laws and policies; scrutinise, from a rights based perspective, the process by which these laws and policies are passed and their content; and identify and respond to emergency measures—particularly those that are having a disproportionate impact on marginalised and vulnerable groups."

"In the context of the current pandemic, some Governments are implementing emergency measures in good faith that have unforeseen or unintended consequences for people’s rights, while others are weaponising the pandemic and using emergency measures to deliberately target certain groups and to consolidate their power. In both instances, we are seeing these emergency measures disproportionately impacting, and in some instances specifically targeting, marginalised and vulnerable groups. There are countless and growing examples of minority groups, migrant workers, detainees, asylum-seekers, refugees, women, children, the elderly and low socioeconomic segments of society (particularly the un-housed) who are disproportionately suffering as a result of Government actions. "