We, the undersigned States, recognise that the COVID-19 pandemic is one of the greatest global challenges in the history of the United Nations. We mourn the loss of life, and are deeply concerned about the loss of livelihoods and the disruption to economies and societies by the pandemic , as well as its negative impact on the enjoyment of human rights around the world, hampering progress towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The pandemic perpetuates and exacerbates existing and emerging inequalities, and those most at risk are persons in vulnerable and marginalized situations. We are also concerned about the use of the pandemic as a pretext for violating human rights and fundamental freedoms, including by shrinking democratic and civil society space.

We express our determination to ‘build back better' from the pandemic , with respect for human rights at the heart of our recovery efforts. This means adopting a human rights- based approach to recovery that puts individuals and their human rights at the centre of all recovery efforts. We firmly believe that preparedness, response and recovery strategies that respect human rights will result in better, more just and more sustainable outcomes.

We reiterate our commitment to the 2030 Agenda, grounded in States' human rights obligations, as the blueprint for building back better, as well as to the Paris Agreement . These represent essential guideposts on the road to sustainable recovery. We also reaffirm the crucial role of the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, including the special procedures and the Universal Period Review, as well as the human rights treaty bodies, in highlighting the human rights implications of the pandemic , and in offering guidance to States on respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights in COVID- 19responses and recovery.

We therefore pledge the following:

1. We will strengthen our efforts to promote and protect human rights, and, on that basis, accelerate our efforts to implement the 2030 Agenda for all in this decade of action, so as to build more healthy, sustainable, peaceful, just, equitable, inclusive and resilient societies where no one is left behind;
2. We will promote democratic principles and good governance at all levels and develop more effective, accountable and transparent institutions, as well as more responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making processes, when devising and implementing sustainable recovery plans;
3. We will ensure effective channels for civil society participation in policy development and decision-making at all levels, including organisations representing persons in vulnerable situations, women and girls, young people, indigenous peoples, minorities and marginalised groups, including persons with disabilities, and we will establish and maintain a safe and enabling environment for journalists, human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, medic al professionals and experts, including scientists, to speak freely without threat of disciplinary action or reprisals;
4. We will redouble our efforts to realize the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and the achievement by 2030 of SDG3 and other health-related SDGs, in particular the targets of universal health coverage, including financial risk protection and access to quality essential health services for all, and to strengthen the capacity of all countries for early warning and crisis communications, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks. We will pursue extensive immunisation against COVID-19 as a global public good for health and without discrimination, and support COVAX as the joint global multilateral response facility, which will be key to ensuring an equitable and timely global distribution of safe, effective, quality and affordable COVID- 19 vaccines to all States, consistent with the realisation of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;
5. We will seek to address the widespread inequalities and discrimination that have made some people more vulnerable to the pandemic , to its economic , social and political impacts, and to the negative impacts of response measures, including by addressing weaknesses in the way services are delivered in areas such as social security, health, education and justice,-by combatting gender-based violence, and by empowering and engaging all women and girls, especially those in vulnerable situations;
6. We will strive to accelerate the catalytic role that digital technologies can play in a human rights- based sustainable recovery, including by building respect for human rights into the design, development and deployment of technological approaches to the pandemic , given the enormous implications of digital technologies for a broad range of human rights, in particular privacy (as per ICCPR art. 17), by seeking to address the substantial digital divides that exist within and among countries and regions; and by recognising the importance of disaggregated data;
7. We will adopt climate- and environment-sensitive approaches to COVID-19 recovery efforts, including by inter alia aligning investments and domestic policies with the relevant objectives of the 2030 Agenda and with the Paris Agreement, reversing biodiversity loss, and accelerating renewable energy transitions;
8. We will design recovery strategies based on risk-informed, sustainable financing policies, supported by integrated national financing frameworks in accordance with the Addis Ababa Action Agenda, mindful of the important role that official development assistance plays in complementing the efforts of countries to mobilise public resources domestically, especially for the many least developed countries, small island developing States and middle-income countries that have been hit the hardest by the crisis;
9. We will use recommendations and guidelines from the international human rights mechanisms and National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs), as appropriate, to inform and monitor progress with our sustainable recovery strategies;
10. We will support a further strengthening UN leadership in advancing a human rights- based sustainable recovery, building on the UN Secretary General's Call to Action on Human Rights, and will pursue partnerships and alliances that allow us to build on the contributions of all sectors of society, including women and girls, adolescents and youth, children, workers, businesses, indigenous peoples, the scientific community, the multiple voices of civil society, and others, on the basis of relevant frameworks such as the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights;

We will report on our progress in realising this pledge, on a voluntary basis, at informal events coinciding with the Human Rights Council intersessional meetings on human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in Geneva and/or the High- Level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in New York, and, as appropriate, we will also seek to reflect progress in our Voluntary National Reports under the HLPF.

Pledging states, as per 18 June 2021:

1. Denmark
2. Australia
3. Azerbaijan
4. Belgium
5. Canada
6. Chile
7. Cyprus
8. Estonia
9. Fiji
10. Finland
11. Greece
12. Iceland
13. Ireland
14. Korea, Republic of
15. Latvia
16. Lithuania
17. Luxembourg
18. Malaysia
19. Marshall Islands
20. Mongolia
21. Moldova
22. Mexico
23. Netherlands
24. New Zealand
25. Norway
26. Poland
27. Portugal
28. Saudi Arabia
29. Sierra Leone
30. Slovakia
31. Sweden
32. Thailand
33. Uruguay

Supporting non-state actors, as per 18 June 2021:

1. Danish Institute for Human Rights
2. Universal Rights Group
3. UNFPA
4. UNICEF
5. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
6. The World Benchmarking Alliance
7. Women's Major Group