Today we mark African Human Rights Day, at a time when many Africans are struggling to come to terms with the devastating effects that Covid-19 has had on their lives. While many have lost their jobs, business, and different sources of income, others have been victims of human rights violations including rape and other gender-based violence, abusive policing, discrimination based on their race, social class, or sexual orientation. While the lockdowns and emergency measures taken by some African governments to address the pandemic may have helped mitigate the spread of the virus, they have also exposed and exacerbated human rights violations such as abusive law enforcement practices, unlawful detention, arbitrary arrests, silencing of human rights defenders and killings of peaceful protesters. Furthermore, the spread of Covid-19 increased the strain on fragile health systems and weak economies. Covid-19 has laid bare Africa’s underlying structural deficiencies, not only in the health sector but in other socio-economic areas. The pandemic has exacerbated challenges in a region already grappling with some of the world’s largest humanitarian crises, involving over nine million forcibly displaced people. While the number of confirmed Covid-19 fatalities remains small relative to other parts of the world, we urge African Union (AU) Member States to address healthcare deficiencies to meet the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic and ongoing healthcare needs of their populations. They should act to ensure everyone’s right to health is in line with international human rights law, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights. We recall the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (African Commission) Press Statement on Covid-19 of 28 February 2020 calling upon States Parties to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Charter) to assume their obligations under Article 1 of the Charter and to take appropriate measures to give effect to the rights, duties, and freedoms enshrined in the Charter including through taking steps necessary for preventing threats to the life, safety, and health of people. We further recall the goals and objectives of the AU-Africa Joint Continental Strategy for Covid-19 Outbreak of 20 March 2020. We urge all African states to abide by their responsibilities under the AU Constitutive Act and human rights instruments they are Parties to. We strongly remind the AU Member States that ten months after the spread of the Covid-19 on the continent, it is now time to take stock of the challenges and progress made while implementing their respective policies. We also urge AU policy organs and AU human rights organs, especially the African Commission, to undertake the same assessment so as to ensure the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms of all citizens in the midst of Covid-19.