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NGO Open Letter on Critical Funding Gap Affecting Human Rights

NGO Open Letter on Critical Funding Gap Affecting Human Rights

Open NGO letter regarding the critical funding gap affecting UN human rights mechanisms and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

 

To: All Permanent Missions to the United Nations in Geneva and New York

 Cc: UN Secretary General

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Chairpersons of the Human Rights Treaty Bodies Coordination Committee of UN Special Procedures

Open NGO letter regarding the critical funding gap affecting UN human rights mechanisms and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights

It is with a sense of urgency that we convey our deep concern regarding the critical funding situation affecting the UN’s human rights mechanisms and OHCHR. We understand that the combination of delays in payments of UN member states’ assessed contributions to the regular budget and the 25% cut to travel of UN representatives, including treaty body experts and Special Procedure mandate holders, and other budget cuts (2018-2019) may adversely impact on the capacity of various human rights mechanisms to carry out their mandates effectively.

In April, the Chairpersons of the 10 human rights treaty bodies were informed that due to the financial situation, the autumn 2019 sessions of six treaty bodies may need to be cancelled. Not only is the cancellation of treaty body sessions deeply worrying as it may involve cancellation of reviews already scheduled and delay decisions on individual communications pending before the Committees but it also sends a troubling message ahead of the 2020 treaty body strengthening discussions. This unprecedented development would come as we celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the 40th anniversary of the Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women.

We understand that other independent expert mechanisms such as the Special Procedures, and other mechanisms created by the Human Rights Council such as Fact-Finding Missions and Commissions of Inquiry, may also be hampered in carrying out their mandates to monitor and investigate human rights violations.

As of 10 May, only 44 UN member states had paid all their assessments due to the UN. We would like to commend Armenia, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bhutan, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, China, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Guyana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Malawi, Malaysia, Monaco, Nauru, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Poland, Rwanda, Samoa, Singapore, Slovakia, Solomon Islands, Sweden, Switzerland and Tuvalu for having done so. 98 member states had paid their regular budget assessments by 20 May 2019.

The failure to pay assessed contributions is only the latest in a worrying trend of shortfalls and cuts affecting the UN budget allocated to its human rights mechanisms. In the 2018-2019 budget the General Assembly made adjustments to reduce the resources for experts by 15 per cent, reduce the travel of representatives by 25 per cent, and reduce resources for travel of staff by 10 per cent, all without taking into account the disproportionate effect these decisions would have on the UN’s human rights mechanism. Only 3.7 per cent of the total UN regular budget is currently allocated to OHCHR. We are extremely concerned by reports that the funding gap may affect the functioning of OHCHR and the human rights mechanisms in 2020 and beyond.

Against the worrying background of a global push back against the promotion and protection of human rights, we urge all UN member states to:

  • Pay their assessed contributions without further delay, unless they have already done so, in order to assure the functioning of the UN’s human rights mechanisms.

  • Prioritise securing adequate funding for the UN’s human rights pillar, with the promotion and protection of human rights being also indispensable to development, peace and security.

  • Initiate, in due time ahead of the 2020-2021 budget negotiations, discussions on how to reverse the trend of reduced regular budget for OHCHR and assuring that the UN’s human rights mechanisms are not disproportionately affected by over-all cuts to the UN budget, including by restoring the budget allocation for travel of representatives for these mechanisms.

 Signatories:

A 11 - Initiative for Economic and Social Rights

Abogados y abogadas del Noroeste argentino en derechos humanos y estudios sociales (Andhes)

ACADHOSHA (Action des Chrétiens Activistes des Droits de l'Homme à Shabunda)

ACAT

ACAT Belgium ACAT Canada ACAT Congo ACAT Ghana ACAT Italia

ACAT Luxembourg ACAT Tchad ACAT- Benin ACAT- NIGER

ACAT-Brasil ACAT-Burundi ACAT-Cameroun ACAT-France ACAT-Switzerland ACAT-USA

Action femme de valeur

Action Jeunesse pour le Développement

Action on Child, Early and Forced Marriage

ActionAid International Activist

Adalah - The Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

Addu women’s Association (AWA)

Adska ong

Advocacy for women in peace and security- Africa

Afghan Women Network

Afghan Women News Agency Organization

Afghan women Skills Development Center

Agir Ensemble pour les Droits de l'Homme (AEDH)

Aid Organization

Al-Zahraa: Organization for the Advancement of Women

Alhaq

All Okinawa Council for Human Rights

Allamin Foundation for Peace and Development

Alliance Globale contre les Mutilations Génitales Féminines

American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)

Amnesty International ALQST for Human Rights

Arab Women Network for Parity and Solidarity

Articulación Feminista Marcosur

ASEAN SOGIE Caucus

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)

Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC)

Asian Migrants’ Coordinating Body (AMCB-IMA)

Asociace romskych predstavitelu Libereckeho kraje z.s.

Asociación Ciudadana ACCEDER

Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes de Yolombo - ASOMUAFROYO.

Asociación de Mujeres Afrodescendientes del Norte del Cauca- ASOM

Asociacion Tesai Reka Paraguay

assiwar--the feminist arab movement

Associace Romskych Rodicu z.s.

Association "MARTA Centre"

Association for Civil Rights in Israel

Association for Cultural and Media Activism QUEER SQUARE Skopje

Association for Emancipation, Solidarity and Equality

Association for thé Prevention of Torture

Association for Women's Rights in Development (AWID)

Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons

Association for Progressive Communications (APC)

Association of War Affected Women

Association of Women for Action and Research

ASTRA-Anti trafficking action

ATFD ATTA LKER AUDF

Avocats Sans Frontières France

Awen Amenca z.s. Bahamas Crisis Centre

Bahrain Center for Human Rights

Baidarie

Bairo Pite Clinic Lanud, Timor-Leste

Balance Promoción para el Desarrollo y Juventud AC

Better World Campaign

Beyond Beijing Committee

Blind Women Association, Nepal (BWAN)

Botswana Watch Organization

Breakthrough Trust

Bridgebuilders Trust

Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies

Cambodian Center for Human Rights ("CCHR")

Canadian Coalition for the Rights of Children

Canadian Feminist Alliance for International Action

Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network

CBM

Center for Justice and International Law

Center for Legal Civic Initiatives

Center for Media, Data and Society, Central European University

Center for Reproductive Rights

Center for Women's Global Leadership (CWGL)

Centre Catholique International de Genève

Centre for Civil and Political Rights

Centre for Indigenous Cultures of Peru

Centre for Migration, Refugees and Belonging, The University of East London

Centre for Social Concern and Development (CESOCODE)

Centro de Derechos Humanos de las Mujeres (CEDEHM)

Centro de Derechos Humanos Fray Bartolomé de Las Casas AC

Centro de Derechos Humanos Miguel Agustín Pro Juárez

Centro de derechos humanos pasó del Norte

Centro de estudios de la mujer

Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)

Child Rights International Network

CHOICE for Youth and Sexuality

Church of Norway Council on Ecumenical and International Relations

CIDEM CISCSA

CIVICUS: World Alliance for citizen participation

Civil Rights Defenders CKLP

CNRS

Coalition Burkinabe des Défenseurs des Droits Humains (CBDDH)

COALITION CEDEF ET LES ANGES DU CIEL

Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies

Coast Education Centre (COEC)

COC Nederland

Colectiva Ciudad y Género ac

Collectif des Assoications Contre l'Impunité au Togo CACIT

COLLECTIF DES AVOCATS POUR LA DEFENSE DES VICTIMES DES CRIMES DE DROIT

INTERNATIONAL COMMIS AUX BURUNDI

CoMensha

Comisión de Derechos Humanos - COMISEDH

Comisión Mexicana de Defensa y Promoción de los Derechos Humanos

Comité de América Latina y el Caribe para la Defensa de los Derechos de las Mujeres

Comité Víctimas Lesa Humanidad y Graves Violaciones DDHH Ecuador

Committees for the defense of democracy freedoms and Human Rights in Syria(C.D.F)

Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)

Community Work Ireland

Conectas Direitos Humanos

CONGCOOP

Congregation of Our Lady of Charity of the Good Shepherd

Congrès Mondial Amazigh

Consorcio para el Diálogo Parlamentario y la Equidad Oaxaca A.C.

Continental Network of Indigenous Women of the Americas

Contra Nocendi International

Cook Islands National Council of Women

cooperation committee for Cambodia (CCC)

Coordinadora de la Mujer

Coordinadora Lesbica y de Hombres Trans- Republika Libre

Corte suprema de justicia

Cotidiano Mujer, Uruguay CROISADE-NIGER

Czech Women's Lobby /

Česká ženská lobby

Dalit NGO Federation (DNF), Nepal

Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies

Darfur Network for monitoring and Documentation

Defence for Children International

DefendDefenders (the East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project)

Dejusticia Democracy Today

Democratic Party, Hong Kong

Director, Comparative Governance and Policy Research Cente, Department of Government & International Studies, Hong Kong Baptist University

DIVA for Equality Dóchas

Dominicans for Justice and Peace

Dublin Rape Crisis Centre Dutch CEDAW Network Earthjustice

Echoes of Women in Africa Initiatives

ECPAT France

Edmund Rice International

Education Coalition Equality Now

European Center for Not- for-Profit Law

European Network of People of African Descent

- ENPAD

European Roma Rights Centre

Fédération Euro- Méditerranéenne contre les Disparitions Forcées - FEMED

Feminist Legal Clinic Inc.

Femmes et Droits Humains

FIACAT

First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada

FOKUS

Fondazione Pangea onlus

Foundation Ultimate Purpose

FRANCISCANS INTERNATIONAL

Freelance Fundación Arcoiris

Fundación de Mujeres Luna Creciente

Fuuse

Gender Alliance for Development Centre

Gender and Sociology

Gender Equality Network

Geneva for Human Rights (GHR)

Geten, Center for LGBTIQA People's Rights

GIN-SSOGIE

Global Detention Project

Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Culural Rights

Global Network of Sex Work Projects

GQUAL Campaign Greek Helsinki Monitor

Groupe d'action pour les droits de la femme

Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR)

Gypsy Cooperative Uk Gypsy Council

Hazte Visible A.C. HCLU

Health and Human Rights Info

HELP Resources

HK Human Rights Monitor

Honduras Forum Switzerland

Hong Kong Unison Human Rights Alert

Human Rights Center of Azerbaijan

Human Rights Comitteee, Norwegian Psychological Association

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

Human Rights Defenders Network-SL

Human Rights House Foundation

Human Rights in China

Human Rights Law Centre

Human Rights Watch Humanists International IBAHRI

IDHEAS, Litigio Estratégico en Derechos Humanos-México

ILGA World ILGA-Europe Ilsb

IM Swedish Development Partner

Independent

Independent Medico- Legal Unit

Indigenous Movement for Peace Advancement and Conflict Transformation(IMPACT)

Iniciativa Mesoamericana de Defensoras de Derechos Humanos (IM- Defensoras)

İnsan Hakları Derneği / Human Rights Association - Turkey

Instituto de liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir AC

International Action Network for Gender Equity & Law

International Association for Human Rights Advocacy in Geneva

International Civil Society Action Network (ICAN)

International Commission of Jurists

International Council of Women

International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)

International Federation of Settlements and Neighborhood Centers

International Indigenous Women's Forum

International Justice Resource Center

International Movement Against All Forms of Discrimination and Racism (IMADR)

International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT)

International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific

Intersex Human Rights Australia

investigacion para el desarrollo

Irish Council for Civil Liberties

Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights

Jammu Kashmir Coalition of Civil Society

JANANEETHI

Justice for Iran (JFI) Karapatan Philippines

Kenya Human Rights Commission

Klagsverband/Litigation Association of NGOs against discrimination

LA VOIX DES SANS VOIX POUR LES DROITS DE L'HOMME (VSV)

Las Reinas Chulas Cabaret Y Derechos Humanos AC

Latvian Human Rights Committee (FIDH)

League for the Defence of Human Rights in Iran (LDDHI)

Legal Resources Centre

Ligue Algerienne de Defense des Droits de l'Homme

LIGUE DES DEFENSEURS REGIONAUX

Lutheran World Federation

MADRE

Maharat Foundation MARUAH

Masimanyane Women's Right's International

MASUM

MEDITERRANEAN WOMEN MEDIATORS NETWORK

Member of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues

MENA Rights Group

MenEngage Global Alliance

Minority Rights Group - Greece

Minotenk - minoritetspolitisk tenketank

Mongolia

Moroccan association for human rights

Movilización de Mujeres Negras por el Cuidado de Vida y los Territorios Ancestrales. Premio Goldman 2018

Mujeres Transformando el Mundo

Musawah

Muslim Women’s Network UK

National Council of Women New Zealand

NATIONAL UNION OF DOMESTIC EMPLOYEES

National Women's Council of Ireland

Nauru Island Association of NGOs

NGO Committe for CSW Latin America and the Caribbean

NGO Women for Development

NGO-Coordination post Beijing Switzerland

Noon Center for Women and Family Issues

North Wales Regional Equality Network

Norwegian Centre against Racism

Norwegian Helsinki Committee

Norwegian Humanist Association

Odhikar, Bangladesh ODRI intersectional rights

Okogun Odigie Safewomb International Foundation (OOSAIF)

Omega Research Foundation

OMOD

Organisation Marocaine des Droits Humains

Oslo Metropolitan University (Oslomet)

Østsamene

OutRight Action International

Oxfam

Pacific Partnerships on Gender, Climate Change and Sustainable Development (PPGCCSD)

-Regional PACIFICWIN PAIMAN

Palestinian Center for development And Media Freedoms-MADA

Partido Revolucionario Febrerista

PARTNERSHIP FOR WOMEN'S HEALTH AND WELLBEING

PathFinders Limited

Peace Brigades International

Peace Foundation Pakistan

People's Watch - INDIA

Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates ( PAHRA)

Piattaforma CEDAW Italia Lavori in corsa

Plan International

Plataforma Internacional contra la Impunidad

Positive Women (Ukraine)

Pro Sentret

Proceso de Comunidades Negras

Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER)

Promo LEX Association, Moldova

PUBLIC COMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE IN ISRAEL

Radha Paudel Foundation

RCMD

Reacción Climática

Reactor - Research in Action

REAMA Network network for the empowerment of women and self help support

REd de Educación Popular entre Mujesre REPEM -LAC

Red Nacional de Mujeres

- Colombia

Red Nacional de Organismos Civiles de Derechos Humanos Todos los Derechos para Todas y Todos (conformada por 87

organizaciones de 23 entidades federativas de México)

REDRESS Trust

Rescue Me-crime prevention

Réseau International des Droits Humains (RIDH)

RESPECT Network

RFSL - The Swedish Federation for LGBTQ Rights

Rights for All Women

Rivers without Boundaries International Coalition

Roma Future z.s. ROMEA

Saami Council Sayoni, Singapore Secretary

Shah-Aiym Network

Shirkat Gah Women's Resource Centre

Sistren Theatre Collective

SOLIDARITE FEMININE POUR LA PAIX ET LE DEVELOPPEMENT INTEGRAL, Ong

Solidarity Netowork with Migrants Japan

SOS Children's Villages International

Spatium Libertas AC Spiralis z.s.

STIR: Stop Institutional Racism

Success Capital Organisation

Swedish Muslims in Cooperation Network

Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression (SCM)

Syrian Network for Human Rights

Tafawuq Consulting Center for Development

Tais Plus

Taternes Landsforening TEDS Trust

Teresian Association Terra Mater

The Advocates for Human Rights

The Canada OPCAT Project

The Egyptian initiative for personal rights (EIPR)

The MiRA Resource Center for black, migrant and refugee women

The MiRA Resource Center for black, migrant and refugee women in Norway

The Negev Coexistence Forum

The Norwegian Bar Association Human Rights Comittee

The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions

THE NORWEGIAN HUMAN RIGHTS FUND

The Norwegian Support Committee for Western Sahara

The Regional Diversity Roundtable

The YP Foundation Think Young Women

Tibetan Centre for Human Rights and Democracy

TRIAL International Trócaire

Tunisian Human Rights League

UN Association of the United States of America (UNA-USA)

UNFPA

Unidad de Protección a Defensoras y Defensores de Derechos Humanas - Guatemala

United Nations Association of Norway

University University of Kent

University Of The West Indies

UPR Info

US Human Rights Network

Uthema Maldives

Validity Foundation - Mental Disability Advocacy Centre

Vision Spring Initiatives

Vzájemně soužití (Life Together)

Wenshe Centre for Human Rights Education

Wi’am

Woman Inc (Woman Incorporated)

Women Against Rape Inc.

WOMEN AGAINST VIOLENCE

Women and Media Collective

Women Peace Network (32701)

Women's Active Museum on War and Peace(WAM)

Women's Human Rights Education Institute

Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF)

Women's Rights Center

Women’s International Solutions for Equality (A WISE Network)

Women´s Link Worldwide

World Organisation Against Torture

XUMEK

Youth Initiative for Human Rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina

YWCA Canada

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Climate and Environmental Justice

We have advanced rights-based and gender-transformative transition frameworks through research that centres the lived experiences of women and marginalised communities on the frontlines of extractive energy policies, promoting climate and energy frameworks attentive to the social and care-related impacts of transition pathways. We have developed a clear vision for a gender-just transition, firmly rooted in gender and human rights norms, establishing both the legal basis and the direction for the transformative changes our planet and societies urgently need. In particular, the ‘Guiding Principles for Gender Equality and Human Rights in the Energy Transition’, a collective effort built through online consultations, an in-person workshop and multiple rounds of revision with activists, practitioners and experts from around the world, outline a transformative vision for reshaping global energy systems through a human rights and gender equality lens.

Our work recognises that the climate emergency is both an existential threat and an opportunity to reimagine societies built on social, gender, economic and environmental justice. We ground our advocacy in feminist and intersectional principles, prioritising the agency and perspectives of communities in the Global South who have contributed the least to the climate emergency yet face its most devastating consequences. Central to our approach is the understanding that energy is not merely a commodity but a fundamental human right; essential for dignity, health, education, work and the realisation of countless other rights. We challenge approaches to the energy transition that risk replicating the harmful patterns of fossil fuel extraction and, instead, advocate for transformative policies that ensure human rights and gender equality as central to building climate-resilient societies rooted in dignity, justice and planetary well-being.

What's next?

We will continue to challenge approaches that treat energy transition as merely a technical shift, instead positioning it as an opportunity to reimagine economies and societies rooted in dignity for all, with particular attention to communities in the Global South who have contributed least to the climate emergency yet are most exposed to its worst effects.

We will connect community-level evidence and the lived experiences of those on the frontlines of extractive policies to national reform and global norm-setting, breaking down silos between human rights, gender, and climate movements, and advancing a shared vision that recognises just transitions as not only fundamental to achieving climate-resilient and sustainable societies, but as transformative pathways that advance social and gender equality, redistribute power and resources equitably, and ensure that energy systems serve the public good rather than profit.

We will mainstream rights-based and genderjust transition priorities in key multilateral spaces (particularly, within the Just Transition Work Programme and the to-be-developed Just Transition Mechanism, within the UNFCCC) to guarantee that just transitions are advanced at all levels.

We will also translate our work, through strategic advocacy, into at least two concrete policy wins, whether promoted, adopted, implemented, or scaled, in priority countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia, South Africa, or Kenya), ensuring these policies align with human rights standards, centre gender equality, and reflect the needs and views of affected communities.

We will build momentum for the progressive recognition of the right to sustainable energy to shift dominant narratives away from purely extractive solutions that sideline gendered impacts, community participation, and Global South perspectives.

Economic Justice and Climate Finance

Our work has transformed the global discussion on fiscal policy in a more just, emancipatory and sustainable direction. Our approach has combined both high-level, expert contributions within decisionmaking circles, with bold, impactful work on narrative change with the general public.

We have been instrumental in the inclusion of human rights as a guiding principle of the future United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, a multilateral instrument with the potential of raising approx. USD 492 billion per year in public revenues currently foregone to global tax abuse. In the process leading to the ‘Compromiso de Sevilla’ decided at FfD4, we proposed and succeeded in creating a specific human rights workstream within the Civil Society Financing for Development Mechanism, which was critical to ensure that explicit commitments on the matter were included in the negotiating outcome. In a context of cutbacks in multilateral institutions, we have amplified the capacities of technical experts, providing rigorous technical support and leveraging our influence to ensure the enactments of groundbreaking standard-setting instruments, such as the 2025 UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Statement on Fiscal Policy and Human Rights, and the first ex oficio hearing on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights on Fiscal and Economic Policies to Address Poverty and Structural Inequality, leading to an upcoming thematic resolution on the matter. We have also bridged the silos between multilateral tax discussions and climate finance debates, promoting ambitious financing commitments to increase international and domestic resource mobilisation during COP 28, 29 and 30.

At the regional level, our engagement with fiscal cooperation platforms such as the Platform for Fiscal Cooperation of Latin America and the Caribbean (PTLAC), where we are member of its Civil Society Consultative Council, and the African Anti-IFFs Policy Tracker, for which we participated in the pilot mission in Ivory Coast together with Tax Justice Network Africa (TJNA), have been critical in cementing a growing engagement between tax administrations and ministries of finance with international legal experts, exploring actionable and transformative initiatives, such as the taxation of high-net-worth individuals, beneficial ownership registries and corporate countryby-country reports, to be implemented at the international level.

At the local level, our interventions in fiscal reform debates in Chile, Brazil, Colombia and Nigeria have contributed to shaping legislative outcomes in a more progressive, rights-compliant direction.

As for our leadership in narrative change, we have a measurable track record in delivering tailored, innovative campaigns which have decisively expanded economic justice constituencies by appealing to a broader tent. In Latin America and the Caribbean, we created the ‘Date Cuenta’ campaign, coordinating over 40 organisations across civil society to deliver plain language, innovative messaging connecting progressive fiscal reforms to the financing of health, education and social protection. ‘Date Cuenta’ generated over 55 original campaign messages that were tailored to the realities of seven priority countries (Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru and Honduras) and disseminated in Spanish, Portuguese and English. In doing so, we convened more than 65 online co-creation workshops with partners, coordinating a unified communications strategy which combined digital outreach, press and media coverage, and collaboration with influencers. Ultimately, ‘Date Cuenta’ resulted in more than 60,000 interactions on social media, coverage in major regional and international media outlets, including El País, Deutsche Welle, Bloomberg and France 24, and the participation of at least 63 social media influencers through 58 dedicated publications. In collaboration with Fundación Gabo and the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, we also organised a two-day workshop in Bogota with 20 journalists from 13 countries, building a regional network trained in a human rights-based approach to fiscal policy that has since generated published media coverage on outlets such as La Diaria, Ciper, El Diario Ar and Milenio. Through ‘Date Cuenta’ and our regional advocacy, we strengthened civil society engagement in key processes, including the Financing for Development track and FfD4, co-organised highlevel dialogues with states and civil society from Latin America and Africa.

What's next?

We will shape the UN Tax Convention and its Protocols so they embed human rights principles, and we will stay engaged through follow-up processes (including the expected Conference of the Parties) to support effective implementation. We will keep linking tax and climate finance so that new resources mobilised through fiscal cooperation are channelled to adaptation, mitigation, and loss and damage, in line with UNFCCC commitments.

Public Services for Care Societies

We have translated participatory research into accountability and policy outcomes.

In Ivory Coast, our work with Mouvement Ivoirien des Droits Humains and affected communities since 2023 exposed how privatisation and lack of accountability restrict access to quality healthcare. It contributed to the closure of 1,022 illegal private health centres, an executive instrument strengthening the regulation of private hospitals across the country, and the creation of a permanent complaints management committee in healthcare through a bylaw issued by the prefect of Gagnoa. Partners engaged through this process also advanced concrete improvements at facility level: members of the Gagnoa Midwives Association who took part in the participatory action research pooled resources to renovate the neonatal unit of the Regional Hospital, and the Director of the Gagnoa General Hospital launched an action plan to expand services and improve patient reception, with the facility receiving the award for best hospital in the country in 2025.

In Kenya, our research with the Mathare Education Taskforce documented the absence of public schools and the expansion of private provision, evidencing impacts on households and caregivers and strengthening demands for free, quality public education. This work contributed to stronger community agency and collective organisation, alongside ongoing strategies ranging from communications to litigation to secure a public school in the area, some involving GI-ESCR and others led independently.

Across Africa, this work is complemented by a multi-country study examining the human rights implications of austerity in education and health, including how regressive fiscal policies, rising debt burdens and persistent underinvestment undermine the financing and delivery of public services.

In Latin America, from 29 November to 2 December 2021, over a thousand representatives from over one hundred countries, from grassroots movements, advocacy, human rights, and development organisations, feminist movements, trade unions, and other civil society organisations, met in Santiago, Chile, and virtually, to discuss the critical role of public services for our future. Following the meeting, the Santiago Declaration on Public Services was adopted to demand universal access to quality, gender-transformative and equitable public services as the foundation of a fair and just society.

We are currently advancing work on care systems, linking public services and fiscal justice through integrated research, advocacy and communications, including a regional campaign framing care as a collective responsibility requiring sustained public investment.

What's next?

In Ivory Coast, we will evaluate and strengthen the complaints management committee and position it as a replicable model for other health facilities. In Kenya, we will support the Mathare community to co-design a model public school for Mabatini and Ngei wards, grounded in human rights standards. Building on our multi-country austerity study, we will drive national advocacy on financing for education and health: advancing reforms in Ghana; launching a fiscal policy and public services financing agenda in Kenya through the CESCR process and targeted coalition work; and, in Nigeria, using the new tax acts in force since 1 January 2026 to catalyse a national accountability campaign for adequately funded, quality public services. In Latin America, we will amplify locally led care pilots across 8 countries and turn lessons into influence—advancing care policies that strengthen care organisations, protect care workers’ rights, support unpaid caregivers, include disability and family networks, and redistribute care more equitably.