MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th November, 2020) A prominent human rights organization on Friday urged the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) to make� COVID-19 treatment and vaccines accessible for all the segments of their population, including the most vulnerable groups.
The call comes on the heels of the 36th Meeting of Mercosur's High-Level Authorities on Human Rights, held on Thursday.
"Amnesty International believes that... cooperation between States in the Americas must ensure that medical treatments to combat COVID-19 and/or a potential vaccine are made available and accessible without discrimination, establishing special measures to support specific groups who are most at risk from the virus," the organization said.
The watchdog added that Mercosur should also address the issue of child sexual abuse. According to Amnesty, the states could tackle the problem if they initiated sexuality education among children and adolescents and made sexual health services available.
"Amnesty International wishes to draw attention to the need to raise awareness of forced pregnancies among children and the need for the State to guarantee comprehensive care for the various forms of... child sexual abuse," the watchdog said.
The Southern Common Market (Mercosur) is the South American regional trade block, which was initially established by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay in 1991. Mercosur is the fifth largest world economy, its territory extends over 14,869,775 square kilometers (5,741,252 square miles). The population of Mercosur countries amounts to 295 million people.
