journal of international humanitarian legal

studies 11 (2020) 193-203

brill.com/ihls

The Right to International Solidarity and

Humanitarian Assistance in the Era of covid-19
Pandemic
Pouria Askary ORCID: 0000-0002-7054-3049
Assistant Professor of International Law, Department of Public &
­International Law, Faculty of Law and Political Science, Allameh Tabataba’i
University, Tehran, Iran
[email protected]

Farzad Fallah ORCID: 0000-0001-9216-5985

LLM, Department of Public & International Law, Faculty of Law and Political
Science, Allameh Tabataba’i University, Tehran, Iran
[email protected]

Abstract

From an international law point of view, the covid-19 pandemic could be described as
a ‘disaster’ which has led to various calls especially from the UN system for harmonized
international cooperation and global solidarity. This article focuses on the meaning of
‘solidarity’ in the context of international human rights, and elaborates on the implica-
tions of solidarity on the international law of humanitarian assistance in the current
situation of the coronavirus outbreak.

Keywords

solidarity – disaster – covid-19 – international law commission – international

cooperation

1 Introduction

The outbreak of covid-19 and the rapid spread of the disease around the
world has made, more than any other time in the history of the United Nations
(‘UN’), the term ‘solidarity’ the keyword of the UN officials’ statements. A
­ ntónio

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194 Askary and Fallah

Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in his several covid-19 related messages

and remarks has highlighted global solidarity as a must in everyone’s interest.1
Michelle Bachelet, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, echoing
the call by Guterres for coordinated, decisive, and innovative policy action
to counter the spread of covid-19, stating that: ‘no country can effectively
combat this epidemic on its own. We need to act with solidarity, coopera-
tion and care’.2 Obiora Okafor, the UN Human Rights Council Independent
Expert on human rights and international solidarity, has urged State and non-
State ­actors to ‘take international solidarity much more seriously in the strug-
gle to optimally realize all human rights around the world’.3 Moreover, the
UN General Assembly (‘UNGA’) in its Resolution on the ‘Global Solidarity
to Fight the ­Coronavirus Disease 2019 (‘covid-19’)’ recognized that this pan-
demic ­‘requires a global response based on unity, solidarity and renewed mul-
tilateral cooperation’.4 The Security Council, with reference to this important
Resolution of the General Assembly, has underlined that ‘combating this pan-
demic requires greater national, regional and international cooperation and
solidarity’.5
But what does ‘solidarity’ mean, and how can it be implemented during this
pandemic from an international legal perspective? To find a proper answer to
this question, this brief paper in the first section with a focus on the Interna-
tional Law Commission’s (‘ilc’) Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in
the Event of Disasters (‘Draft Articles’), argues that the coronavirus outbreak
has to be qualified as a ‘disaster’. The article then sheds some light on the mys-
terious concept of solidarity to determine its meaning and implications in the
event of disasters from an international law perspective. In the third section,
we underline the relationship between international solidarity as a human
right and the right to humanitarian assistance as enshrined in the work of the
ilc. The paper argues that the contextualization of international solidarity
within the international legal system goes beyond a pure theoretical academic

1 ‘Secretary-General’s Opening Remarks at Virtual Press Encounter on covid-19 Crisis’ (UN

Headquarters, 19 March 2020) <www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/speeches/2020-03-19/remarks
-virtual-press-encounter-covid-19-crisis>.
2 ‘Bachelet Calls for Easing of Sanctions to Enable Medical Systems to Fight covid-19 and
Limit Global Contagion’ (UN in Iran, 26 March 2020) <un.org.ir/en/news-page/global-un/
item/6339-bachelet-calls-for-easing-of-sanctions-to-enable-medical-systems-to-fight-covid-
19-and-limit-global-contagion.html>.
3 ‘UN Expert Urges Adoption of Draft Declaration on International Solidarity’ (UN Geneva,
6 May 2020) <www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25866&
LangID=E>; Obiora C Okafor, ‘Solidarity Key to Post covid-19 Response’ (OpenGlobalRights,
28 April 2020) <www.openglobalrights.org/solidarity-key-to-post-covid-19-response/>.
4 unga Res 74/270 (3 April 2020) UN Doc A/res/74/270.
5 unsc Res 2532 (1 July 2020) UN Doc S/res/2532.

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The Right to International Solidarity and Humanitarian 195

discussion. As argued in this paper, solidarity as a human right, results in more

concrete actions including humanitarian assistance and international coop-
eration, in soothing and rectifying global challenges.

2 covid-19 Pandemic as a Disaster

Back in 2007, the ilc started working on the topic of protection of persons
in the event of disasters, from which the Draft Articles emerged.6 The Draft
Articles, at least partially, reflect international law as it stands,7 i.e., they illus-
trate customary international law. As these provisions are designed to be ap-
plicable in times of disasters, it is of utmost importance to clarify, first, the legal
definition of the term ‘disaster’, and whether the current covid-19 outbreak
qualifies as such. Draft Article 3(a) defines disaster as ‘a calamitous event or
series of events resulting in widespread loss of life, great human suffering and
distress, mass displacement, or large-scale material or environmental damage,
thereby seriously disrupting the functioning of society’.8
The ilc definition does not demand that the event overwhelm a society’s
response capacity. The focus on the disruption of society serves to distinguish
a disaster from mere economic or political crises, or events which occur with-
out affecting a society such as an earthquake in the middle of an ocean with no
impact on human populations. The term ‘calamitous’ here serves to establish a
threshold, by reference to the nature of the event, whereby only extreme
events are covered.9 This should be read in light of the phrase ‘event or series
of events’, which aims ‘to cover those types of events, such as frequent small-
scale disasters, that, on their own, might not meet the necessary threshold, but
that, taken together would constitute a calamitous event for the purposes of
the draft articles.’10 Furthermore, no limitation is included concerning the ori-
gin of the event, i.e., whether it is natural or human-made, in recognition of the
fact that disasters often arise from complex sets of causes that may include
both wholly natural elements and contributions from human activities.11

6 ilc, ‘Report of the International Law Commission on the Work of its 68th Session’
(2 May–10 June and 4 July–12 August 2016) UN Doc A/71/10, Chapter iv.
7 Dire Tladi, ‘The International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on the Protection of Per-
sons in the Event of Disasters: Codification, Progressive Development or Creation of Law
from Thin Air?’ (2017) 16(3) Chinese Journal of International Law 425, 426.
8 ilc (n 6) draft art 3(a) (emphasis added).
9 ibid draft art 3(a), commentary [4].
10 ibid.
11 ibid.

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196 Askary and Fallah

Whether the disaster in question should have a trans-boundary effect or, in

other words, be international in its scope, has also been addressed. Accord-
ingly, ‘where an event has resulted in a relatively localized loss of life, owing to
adequate prevention and preparation, as well as effective mitigation actions,
but nonetheless has caused severe dislocation resulting in great human suffer-
ing and distress that seriously disrupt the functioning of society, would be
­covered by the Draft Articles.’12
Having briefly touched upon the definition of disaster, the next step would
be to analyze whether the current covid-19 pandemic falls within the scope of
the above definition. This is not merely a legal question, but rather calls for
adherence to the reports and analyses given by expert bodies such as the World
Health Organization (‘who’). Diseases were not of much clear concern during
the proceedings leading to the adoption of the Draft Articles. However, the
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (‘ifrc’) held
the position that great human suffering and distress might also be occasioned
by, inter alia, disease or other health problems, which fall under the umbrella
term ‘disaster’.13 The ilc commentary has adopted this view.14
The who and the unga have designated the covid-19 outbreak as a pan-
demic, till now infecting more than 40 million people with more than 1.1 mil-
lion deaths globally.15 The broad definition of disaster, and its interpretation by
some scholars as well as humanitarian actors as including the outbreak of dis-
ease, suggests that the outbreak of covid-19 should be considered as a disaster

12 ibid [7].
13 unga ‘Protection of Persons in the event of Disasters – Comments and Observations re-
ceived from Governments and International Organizations’ (14 March 2016) UN Doc
A/cn.4/696, 17. See also: ifrc, ‘Annotations to the Draft Guidelines for the Domestic
­Facilitation and Regulation of International Disaster Relief and Initial Recovery Assis-
tance’ (October 26, 2007).
14 ilc (n 6) draft art 3(a), commentary [7]. This view was reaffirmed by the Sendai Frame-
work for Disaster Risk Reduction, adopted at the Third UN World Conference in Sendai,
Japan, 18 March 2015. See Amina Aitsi-Selmi and others, ‘The Sendai Framework for Disas-
ter Risk Reduction: Renewing the Global Commitment to People’s Resilience, Health, and
Well-being’ (2015) 6 International Journal of Disaster Risk Science 171. In contrast, Austria,
at least on one occasion, expressed doubt whether diseases would fall under the scope of
disaster. See: unga, ‘Eighth report on the protection of persons in the event of disasters
by Eduardo Valencia-Ospina, Special Rapporteur’ (17 March 2016) UN Doc A/cn.4697,
[57].
15 who, ‘Weekly Epidemiological Update: Coronavirus disease 2019 (covid-19)’ (20 October
2020) <www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20201020-
weekly-epi-update-10.pdf>; unga Res 74/274 (21 April 2020) UN Doc A/res/74/274,
Preamble.

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The Right to International Solidarity and Humanitarian 197

in terms of the Draft Articles.16 This view is consistent with other historical
incidents of pandemic, which, upon analysis, can and are construed as disas-
ters or deemed disastrous.17

3 International Solidarity as a Right

In 1977, the unesco Courier published an article written by Karel Vasak, the
then-Director of unesco’s Division of Human Rights and Peace, where he cat-
egorized human rights in three generations. These were civil and political
rights as the first; social, economic and cultural rights as the second; and ‘the
rights of solidarity’ as the third generation of human rights. In Vasak’s words,
solidarity was seen as a reflection of ‘certain conception of community life’
which can only be implemented by the ‘combined efforts of everyone’.18 As
discussed by some commentators, this kind of categorization of international
human rights law through historical generations is not accurate.19 Yet, his em-
phasis on the substantial difference between the solidarity rights and other
human rights as enshrined in the two 1966 International Covenants20 has to
be seen as the beginning of a long journey from his time to the current
­c ovid-19 disaster, when the Draft Declaration on the Right to International
Solidarity (‘Draft Declaration’), as suggested by Virginia Dandan, the former

16 Alp Ozturk, ‘Covid-19: Just Disastrous or the Disaster Itself? Applying the ilc Articles on
the Protection of Persons in the Event of Disasters to the covid-19 Outbreak’ (asil In-
sights, 24 April 2020) <www.asil.org/insights/volume/24/issue/6/covid-19-just-disastrous-
or-disaster-itself-applying-ilc-articles>; United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction
(undrr) also, as it appears, deems covid-19 as a disaster, and has also determined previ-
ous pandemics to be severe and disastrous in their impact and scope. See generally
­u ndrr, ‘Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction’ (2019). Since undrr is an
expert body on such matters, its qualification of the situation as a disaster should be not-
ed convincingly. See undrr, ‘Prevention Saves Lives’ <www.undrr.org/drr-and-covid-19>
accessed 26 July 2020.
17 Cédric Cotter, ‘From the ‘Spanish Flu’ to covid-19: lessons from the 1918 pandemic and
First World War’ (Humanitarian Law & Policy, 23 April 2020) <blogs.icrc.org/law-and-­
policy/2020/04/23/spanish-flu-covid-19-1918-pandemic-first-world-war/>.
18 Karel Vasak, ‘A 30-Year Struggle’ The unesco Courier (1977) 32.
19 See for example: Patrick Macklem, ‘Human rights in international law: three generations
or one?’(2015) 3 London Review of International Law 1, 62; Dustin N Sharp, ‘Re-Appraising
the Significance of ‘Third-Generation’ Rights in a Globalized World’ in Ekaterina Yahyaoui
Krivenko (ed), Human Rights and Power in Times of Globalisation (Brill 2017).
20 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered
into force 23 March 1976) 999 unts 171 (iccpr) and International Covenant on Econom-
ic, Social and Cultural Rights (adopted 16 December 1966, entered into force 3 January
1976) 999 unts 3 (icescr).

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198 Askary and Fallah

UN ­independent expert on international solidarity,21 is still waiting for further

­attention from States.22 This is despite the fact that Okafor trusts that the
right to international solidarity exists in State practice and opinio juris23 and
the UN Member States have recently recognized that ‘the covid-19 global pan-
demic requires a global response based on unity, solidarity and multilateral
cooperation’.24
Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that ‘[e]
veryone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and
freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized.’25 Along the same
line, the Draft Declaration describes the right to international solidarity as a
human right ‘by which individuals and peoples are entitled, on the basis of
equality and non-discrimination, to participate meaningfully in, contribute to,
and enjoy a social and international order in which all human rights and fun-
damental freedoms can be fully realized’.26 The right to international solidarity
imposes no extra duty on States, but requires them to prepare the ground for
fulfillment of all human rights which is to be done through ‘preventing and
removing the causes of asymmetries and inequities between and within States,
and the structural obstacles and factors that generate and perpetuate poverty
and inequality worldwide’.27 ‘Solidarity rights’, as introduced by Vasak, were
referring to a third group of rights including the right to development with a
different group of rights holders, i.e., communities. However, the right to inter-
national solidarity, as described in the Draft Declaration, is mainly a distinct
human right for both individuals and peoples within or beyond their territo-
ries to claim international solidarity.28
On this basis, the Draft Declaration, with reference to the UN Charter and
the unga Resolution 2625 (xxv) concerning Friendly Relations and Coopera-
tion among States, calls upon States to take a ‘human rights-based approach
to international cooperation and all partnerships in responding to global
challenges’.29 The Draft Declaration obliges States to ‘co-operate with one

21 UN Human Rights Council ‘Report of the Independent Expert on Human Rights and
I­ nternational Solidarity’ (25 April 2017) UN Doc A/hrc/35/35, 15–20.
22 Okafor (n 3).
23 UN Human Rights Council ‘Report of the Independent Expert on Human Rights and
­International Solidarity’ (11 April 2018) UN Doc A/hrc/38/40, 5.
24 unga (n 15).
25 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (adopted 10 December 1948) unga Res 217 A(iii)
(udhr) art 5.
26 UN Human Rights Council (n 21) draft art 4(1).
27 ibid draft art 3(a).
28 ibid draft art 5.
29 ibid draft art 9(1).

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The Right to International Solidarity and Humanitarian 199

another … in order to … promote international economic stability and prog-

ress, the general welfare of nations and international cooperation free from
discrimination based on such differences.’30 It defines international solidarity
as a ‘foundational principle underpinning contemporary international law in
order to preserve the international order and to ensure the survival of interna-
tional society.’31 International solidarity consists of (i) preventive solidarity,
which, ­inter alia, requires that ‘States fully respect and comply with their obli-
gations under international law’,32 (ii) reactive solidarity, which is character-
ized by ‘collective actions of the international community to respond to the
adverse impacts of natural disasters, health emergencies, epidemic diseases
and armed conflict’,33 and (iii) international cooperation, which is based on the
fact that some States may not have enough resources or capacity to realize all
human rights, and States in a position to do so, acting separately or jointly,
‘should provide international assistance’.34
Difficulties arising from the covid-19 pandemic have demonstrated that
the abovementioned pillars of international solidarity and, especially, interna-
tional cooperation in terms of humanitarian assistance are at risk and conse-
quently, the right to international solidarity is facing serious practical and legal
challenges. As Guterres said, it seems that ‘while we are all floating on the same
sea, it’s clear that some are in super yachts, while others are clinging to the
drifting debris’.35
In the next section, the paper examines the capacity of the ilc Draft
­Articles to trigger the fulfillment of the right to international solidarity in a
time of disaster such as the current pandemic.

4 Solidarity in the ilc Draft Articles on the Protection of Persons in

the Event of Disasters

The ilc Draft Articles provide a relatively comprehensive set of legal obliga-
tions that guide the behavior of States and other international stakeholders in

30 Declaration on Principles of International Law concerning Friendly Relations and Coop-

eration among States in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations (adopted 24
October 1970) unga Res 2625 (xxv) UN Doc A/res/2625 (xxv).
31 UN Human Rights Council (n 20) draft art 1(2).
32 ibid draft art 2(a).
33 ibid draft art 2(b).
34 ibid draft art 2(c).
35 ‘Inequality Defines our Time: UN Chief Delivers Hard-Hitting Mandela Day Message’
(UN News, 18 July 2020) <news.un.org/en/story/2020/07/1068611>.

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200 Askary and Fallah

times of disaster. As identified by some scholars, the Draft consists of vertical

duties (owed to victims of disasters) and horizontal obligations (regarding co-
operation among affected States and assisting actors) in the rights-duties
perspectives.36
Draft Article 10(2) states that the State affected by disaster has the primary
role in the direction, control, coordination, and supervision of relief assistance.
On the other hand, under Draft Article 7, States bear the duty to cooperate
among themselves, with the UN, and other assisting actors, including the com-
ponents of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. Under Draft Article 8,
however, the ilc enumerates cooperation in the context of responses to disas-
ter, meaning that States, which must provide humanitarian assistance to the
population in the territory under their jurisdiction or control under Draft
­Article 10(1) if impacted by a disaster, must resort to cooperation with the rel-
evant stakeholders. This is an echo of the general obligation to cooperate in
Draft Article 8.37 In contrast to the situations of armed conflict, whether the
right to humanitarian assistance during peacetime in the event of disaster has
stepped into the domain of hard-law is still open to debate.38 Nevertheless,
humanitarian assistance is intentionally placed first among the forms of coop-
eration mentioned in Draft Article 8, as the Commission considers this type of
cooperation of paramount importance in the context of disaster relief.39
Adding to the affected State’s duty to cooperate in the event of a disaster,
which entails that it must seek external assistance if the disaster ‘manifestly
exceeds its national response capacity’, the affected State, once it has given its
consent to external assistance, shall not withhold its consent arbitrarily.40 That

36 Tladi (n 7) 429–430.
37 ilc (n 6) draft art 8.
38 This question is, however, virtually clear with respect to a number of other domains of
international law. For instance, the right to humanitarian assistance for Internally Dis-
places Persons, which relates to international human rights law, is recognized as a State
obligation under the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of In-
ternally Displaced Persons in Africa, known as Kampala Convention, under art 5(1). The
same is true about international humanitarian law, under which humanitarian assistance
is remarkably stipulated and recognized. See: Ruth Abril Stoffels, ‘Legal Regulation of
­Humanitarian Assistance in Armed Conflict: Achievements and Gaps’ (2004) 86(855)
­International Review of the Red Cross 515.
39 Giulio Bartolini, ‘The Draft Articles on “The Protection of Persons in the Event of
­Disasters”: Towards a Flagship Treaty?’ (ejil:Talk!, 2 December 2016) <www.ejiltalk.org/
the-draft-articles-on-the-protection-of-persons-in-the-event-of-disasters-towards-a-­
flagship-treaty/>. See also: Inter-American Convention to Facilitate Disaster Assistance
(adopted on 7 June 1991, entered into force 16 October 1996) art iv (iacfda).
40 Georg Nolte, ‘The International Law Commission and Community Interests’ (2017) 7 kfg
Working Paper Series, 115.

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The Right to International Solidarity and Humanitarian 201

is to say, such a State should refrain from obstructing humanitarian assistance

without justification.41 This must be read in conjunction with Draft Article 12
which notes in its first paragraph that States, the UN, and other potential as-
sisting actors may offer assistance to the affected State, continuing in the sec-
ond paragraph that these actors shall expeditiously consider the request and
inform the affected State of their reply. The ilc notes that ‘[draft article 12] is
an expression of the principles of solidarity and cooperation, highlighted
in the preamble, … the latter principle being specifically embodied in draft
articles 7 to 9’, and the ‘verb “may” in paragraph 1 is intended to emphasize that,
in the context of offers of external assistance, what matters is the possibility
open to all potential assisting actors to make an offer of assistance, regardless
of their status and the legal grounds on which they can base their action’.42 The
principle of solidarity embodied in these provisions, including under Draft
­Articles 4, 5, 6, and 7, and the Preamble, indicates that this principle is virtually
in the domain of lex lata. This view is confirmed by several members of the
ilc, including Nolte and Saboia, who took the view that the horizontal rights-
duties approach was an accurate reflection of the current law.43
In this way, the ilc has legally systematized international solidarity.44 Bear-
ing this in mind, it is safe to assert that the principle of solidarity, as a founda-
tional basis of the Draft Articles, calls upon all States and other assisting actors
to offer their humanitarian assistance to those developing and less-developed
States which are more affected by the coronavirus. As already pointed out by
some scholars and indicated in the UN reports, the Global South has been and
will be affected most by the pandemic, with socio-economic impacts being the
most notable form of damage.45 This fact supports the position that interna-
tional solidarity must play a yet more significant role in tackling this disaster.

41 See the Preambles to unga Res 43/131 (1988) and 45/100 (1990).
42 ilc (n 6) draft art 12, commentary [1] and [6].
43 ilc, ‘Summary Records’ (Meeting of 5 July 2012) UN Doc A/cn.4/sr.3141, 5 (Nolte) (The
approach ‘was the minimum that should be respected by States, which had the human
rights-based obligation to protect life and physical integrity and provide for the basic nu-
tritional needs of the population.’); ilc, ‘Summary Records’ (Meeting of 4 July 2012) UN
Doc A/cn.4/sr.3140 (Saboia) (‘Persons affected by disasters were quite likely to be sub-
jected to treatment that affected their rights and their dignity …. Of course, it did not
necessarily follow that the affected State … was to blame for all the human suffering en-
dured by its population; nevertheless, there was certainly justification for bearing human
rights in mind ….’).
44 Thérèse O’Donnell and Craig Allan, ‘Identifying Solidarity: the ilc Project on the Protec-
tion of Persons in Disasters and Human Rights’ (2017) 49 George Washington Interna-
tional Law Review 1, 59.
45 For a brief review of the challenges which the Global South is facing in the pandemic, see
Eden Lapidor, ‘Out of the Spotlight: covid-19 and the Global South’ (Just Security, 23 July

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202 Askary and Fallah

5 Conclusion

As noted by Nelson Mandela, ‘one of the challenges of our time … is to re-instill

in the consciousness of our people that sense of human solidarity, of being
in the world for one another and because of and through others’. The UN
­Secretary-General quoting this statement said: ‘the covid-19 pandemic has
reinforced this message more strongly than ever. We belong to each other. We
stand together, or we fall apart’.46
This is also confirmed by the latest Resolution of the UN Human Rights
Council on the right to international solidarity, extending the mandate of the
independent expert for a period of three years, which emphasizes that

international solidarity is not limited to international assistance and

­cooperation, aid, charity or humanitarian assistance; it is a broader con-
cept and principle that includes sustainability in international relations,
especially international economic relations, the peaceful coexistence of
all members of the international community, equal partnerships and the
equitable sharing of benefits and burdens.47

This Resolution, while expressing concern at the lack of sufficient solidarity

with developing countries in responding to the coronavirus pandemic and in
addressing its dramatic economic and social impact, emphasizes on the im-
portance of international solidarity and cooperation for effectively addressing
the challenges of the current global crisis owing to the covid-19 pandemic.48
The occurrence of a disaster such as the current outbreak of the corona-
virus, which is severely affecting the life and wellbeing of many individuals,
especially those who live in less-developed countries, calls for solidarity in
terms of a swift and coordinated humanitarian assistance from the interna-
tional community. Therefore, solidarity is defined as the unity to preserve the

2020) <www.justsecurity.org/71570/out-of-the-spotlight-covid-19-and-the-global-south/>.
The UN also confirms such assertions, according to which, for instance, Foreign Direct
Investment is expected to decline by up to 40% in 2020 which undoubtedly would hit the
Global South the hardest. See ‘Sustainable Development Goal 17 Infographic’ (UN Sustain-
able Development, 2020) <sdgs.un.org/goals/goal17> accessed 1 August 2020.
46 ‘Secretary-General’s Nelson Mandela Lecture: Tackling the Inequality Pandemic: A New
Social Contract for a New Era’ (UN Headquarters, 18 July 2020) <www.un.org/sg/en/­
content/sg/statement/2020-07-18/secretary-generals-nelson-mandela-lecture
-%E2%80%9Ctackling-the-inequality-pandemic-new-social-contract-for-new-
era%E2%80%9D-delivered>.
47 unhrc Res 44/L.15 (13 July 2020) UN Doc A/hrc/44/L.15, [2] and [10].
48 ibid [2].

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The Right to International Solidarity and Humanitarian 203

i­ nterests of the international community, including the international legal or-

der based on multilateralism and humanity as enshrined in international in-
struments such as the Draft Resolution on International Solidarity and the ilc
Draft Articles. This article, with providing an insight on the merits of these two
pending documents, reiterates that international solidarity, as a human right,
is a foundational principle underpinning contemporary international law.

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