Violet Affleck urges UN action on indoor air, masks at global forum

Violet Affleck, a 19-year-old activist and Yale Davenport College freshman, addressed the United Nations in New York on Tuesday during an event titled Healthy Indoor Air: A Global Call to Action. The appearance marked a high-profile foray into international advocacy for the daughter of Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, who spoke about the importance of masks and other preventative devices more than five years after the COVID-19 pandemic altered daily life.

Speaking to UN attendees, Violet told the audience that it is essential to continue wearing masks to curb the spread of COVID-19. "It is neglect of the highest order to look children in the eyes and say, "We knew how to protect you, and we didn’t do it,"" she said. She argued that adults and leaders have prioritized reopening over precaution, a stance she described as part of a broader pattern of risk aversion that has left younger generations exposed to ongoing health threats. The speaker stressed that the present generation has been urged to return to business as usual despite lingering health hazards linked to long COVID and airborne transmission. The remarks underscored the belief that indoor air quality is central to public health and pandemic resilience.

Affleck told UN attendees that the current generation has "lacked both real choice in the matter and information about what was being chosen for us." She added that many nations and institutions have treated clean air as optional rather than essential, arguing that "our present is being stolen right in front of our eyes" as environmental and public-health decisions unfold with long-term consequences. She argued that next-generation policies should treat clean indoor air as a basic human right, similar in priority to access to clean water: "We can recognize filtered air as a human right as intuitively as we do filtered water. We can create clean air infrastructure that is so ubiquitous and so obviously necessary, tomorrow’s children don’t even know why we need it."

Affleck's appearance at the United Nations follows a string of related efforts and publications that tie health policy to broader climate and social equity concerns. In May, she published an article in Yale Global Health Review examining Los Angeles’ organized response to COVID-19 and climate change, articulating a view that eliminating the virus requires a combination of preventive measures, sustainable policy choices and public accountability. The piece also called for structural changes in public health that persist beyond the immediate crisis.

Her outreach has extended beyond the UN podium. Last year she spoke before the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors to address the long-COVID crisis and called for concrete steps to restructure health and safety protocols. In that context, she urged the expansion of mask availability, universal air filtration and Far-UVC light in government facilities — including jails and detention centers — and advocated for mask mandates in county medical facilities. During a July 2024 meeting, she argued that laws restricting mandatory mask wearing leave vulnerable communities less safe and impede participation in city life, emphasizing the compounded harms to people of color, disabled residents, elderly individuals, transgender people, women, and essential workers.

Experts and advocates view these messages as part of a broader, youth-led push to keep disease-prevention measures on the policy agenda even as life normalizes in many sectors. Affleck has framed her activism as a call for robust public-health infrastructure: paid sick leave, universal healthcare, widespread access to high-quality tests and treatments, and investment in air-cleaning technologies to prepare for future health threats. While the UN stage amplifies her voice, supporters say the real impact will be measured by how quickly institutions translate these aims into durable, enforceable policies.

In sum, Violet Affleck’s UN appearance highlighted a continuing debate over indoor-air quality, masking norms, and long COVID, underscoring how health policy intersects with climate resilience, social equity and the rights of children and young people to safe environments. The event at the United Nations aligned with a broader international conversation about how nations can better prepare for pandemics and protect vulnerable populations through proactive, preventive measures.