Geneva Updates
Our strategic presence in Geneva sets us apart as the sole NGO exclusively committed to economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights. This permits us to play a pivotal role in promoting and protecting these rights globally.
Seven organisations, including the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, have published a new briefing outlining the concept of a human rights economy and its importance in ongoing global debates. As calls grow stronger for economic systems to better uphold human rights, this briefing arrives at an important moment, responding to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights' appeal for 'a life-changing vision – and concerted action to follow up'.
Amid ongoing and emerging crises that threaten economic justice, the briefing offers a clear framework based on existing international human rights law. It advocates for transitions toward economies that prioritise people's rights, sustainability and fairness.
Central to this approach is the belief that all economies should guarantee essential rights, including food, health and education. Highlighting positive local experiences from Colombia, The Gambia and Spain, as well as problematic policies promoted by global institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF, the briefing stresses the urgent need for systemic reforms. These reforms would realign international financial institutions, national budgets and laws with human rights principles.
The organisations urge states to immediately integrate the human rights economy concept into relevant resolutions at Human Rights Council sessions and key international negotiations, including the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), the UN Tax Convention, the Second World Summit for Social Development and COP meetings.
The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has again raised significant concerns regarding the United Kingdom's approach to international development assistance, particularly highlighting its support for private, for-profit education initiatives. In its recent concluding observations released in March 2025, the Committee underscored the urgent need for robust mechanisms to assess and mitigate the human rights impacts of the UK's overseas aid projects. Together with our partners, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights submitted evidence to CESCR, highlighting how UK aid continues to support commercial private schools despite clear warnings and serious concerns raised by reports from the UK Parliament and international investigations.
Camila Barretto Maia, our Acting Executive Director, welcomed the Committee’s concluding observations, stating: 'We welcome CESCR’s Concluding Observations which reaffirm a crucial principle: public funds must be directed towards strengthening free, quality public services, including education, which is essential to upholding human rights for all. We equally welcome the Committee’s groundbreaking recommendation on the importance of establishing public registries of assets to combat illicit flows and tax evasion, which enormously impact the ability of other States to mobilize resources for economic, social and cultural rights.’
Here's the press release:
9 Years After, UN Human Rights Committee Reiterates Its Concerns about the UK’s Financial Support to Private For-Profit, Low-Cost Private Education Project
This March 2025, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights released its concluding observations regarding the UK’s implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. They include specific recommendations regarding both the UK’s official development assistance (ODA) in the field of education and tax policies which hinder the ability of States to mobilize the maximum available resources for the implementation of Covenant rights, including the right to education.
The Committee expresses concerns about ‘the lack of effective mechanisms to assess the impact of operations funded by development assistance institutions on the enjoyment of Covenant rights. In this regard, the Committee is particularly concerned about funding provided by British International Investments for private, for-profit (...) low-cost private education projects, which have attracted strong criticism for their negative impact on Covenant rights in recipient countries.’
The Committee urges the UK to:
- Strengthen the measures designed to analyse the impact that operations funded by development assistance institutions have on the enjoyment of Covenant rights in recipient countries, in particular the rights (...)[such as] education prior to their decisions;
- Establish a regular monitoring mechanism to assess the human rights impact of policies and projects in recipient countries and take preventive or corrective actions where necessary;
- Ensure that its official development assistance programmes prioritise supporting recipient countries in meeting their obligations under the Covenant, especially in guaranteeing everyone access to free, quality, primary and secondary education and high quality (...).
The Committee also recommends the UK to:
- Strengthen efforts to combat illicit financial flows, tax evasion, and fraud, particularly by wealthy individuals and businesses, by establishing public registries of companies and trusts with mandatory due diligence, thereby supporting international initiatives to that effect and helping other States mobilize resources for realizing economic, social, and cultural rights;
- Prevent and punish the use of shell companies for profit-shifting, tax evasion and fraud by strengthening its legal framework and reinforcing whistle-blowers protection measures;
- Conduct an independent, participatory impact assessment of the extra-territorial effects of its financial secrecy and corporate tax policies on the economies of developing countries.
The publication of these concluding observations closes a review process started in May 2022 with the submission of a report by the UK describing how they have been implementing economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to education. In January 2023, our organisations* at global and national level submitted an alternative report to the UN Committee sharing our concerns and evidence about the UK’s financial support to for-profit / commercial private schools through its official development aid and about its corporate tax policies and its impacts on the right to education. The UN Committee took it into consideration and, in March 2023, when issuing a list of questions to the UK government asking for more information, included one specifically related to the UK international development cooperation in the area of education**. The UK did not respond to this question in its second report submitted to the Committee in October 2024. We therefore submitted a second report in November 2024, providing updated information, including:
- The major concerns raised by the International Development Committee of the UK Parliament about the UK’s investments as part of Overseas Development Aid
- The UK’s non-response following findings from investigations by the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO)
- Detailed update on the UK’s investments in fee-charging private education
In 2016, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights had already concluded that the UK’s financial support to low-cost private education in developing countries was in contravention of human rights.
Delphine Dorsi, Director at the Right to Education Initiative stated: ‘This is a major victory for all actors mobilising across the world to protect the right to education for all. It shows the consistency of UN experts regarding the serious threat of the privatisation of education and the need to address this issue from a human rights perspective. It is also a great example of the usefulness of UN human rights mechanisms to advance the realisation of the right to education.’
Kitty Arie, CEO at Results UK stressed: ‘The Committee's excellent report underlines the need for the UK Government to increase funding for effective education programmes that support human rights, and that means publishing a route back to spending 0.7% of our Gross National Income on Official Development Assistance as soon as possible. It also shows clearly why the UK must move towards more equitable funding for education and all the Sustainable Development Goals, including closing the tax loopholes that deprive Global South countries of fiscal space to do so - an area where the UK has an outsized global role’.
Anderson Miamen, National Coordinator at Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education, reacted from Liberia: ‘These recommendations are highly welcomed. Evidence has shown the detrimental impact on the right to education in Liberia by for-profit companies receiving UK aid. It shows the gaps in due diligence and oversight in development financing, which UK and other governments must urgently address to ensure that their support positively impacts the rights holders. We call for greater transparency and due diligence for the UK Government in its development assistance.’
Joanne O’Neill, Head of Advocacy, ActionAid UK, emphasised ‘We welcome the Committee's recommendation for the UK government to support initiatives against illicit financial flows and tax abuse. However, as one of the biggest facilitators of the nearly $492 billion lost to global tax abuse each year, the UK must do more than acknowledge the problem—it must take action. Instead of blocking progress on a UN Tax Convention, the UK should support this vital process, which could unlock crucial resources for education, healthcare, and other public services that are vital in fulfilling the rights of women, men and children worldwide. This could not be more urgent, particularly in light of the recent cuts to the UK’s ODA budget."
Camila Barretto Maia, Acting Executive Director at the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), stated: ‘We welcome CESCR’s Concluding Observations which reaffirm a crucial principle: public funds must be directed towards strengthening free, quality public services, including education, which is essential to upholding human rights for all. We equally welcome the Committee’s groundbreaking recommendation on the importance of establishing public registries of assets to combat illicit flows and tax evasion, which enormously impact the ability of other States to mobilize resources for economic, social and cultural rights.’
We will now monitor the impact and implementation of these concluding observations at national level and will engage with the UK’s government as part of this process.
CONTACTS
● Delphine Dorsi, Right to Education Initiative:
● Joanne O’Neill, Head of Advocacy, ActionAid UK:
*ActionAid, Coalition for Transparency and Accountability in Education (Liberia), East African Centre for Human Rights (EACHRights, Kenya), Eurodad, Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, Global Justice Now, Initiative for Economic and Social Rights (ISER, Uganda), Oxfam GB, RESULTS UK, Right to Education Initiative, World Organization for Early Childhood Education-OMEP.
**Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, E/C.12/GBR/Q/7, paragraph 4: ‘(...). In the light of the information on international development cooperation in the report of the State party, please provide information on the findings of the social and human rights assessments conducted in the implementation of programmes and projects in the field of education services abroad and how those findings have contributed to ensuring transparency and accountability for non-State providers of education services, including low-cost private schools. Please provide information on the measures taken to establish an effective monitoring mechanism to regularly assess the impact of low-cost and private education projects on the quality of free public education in receiving countries and to take remedial action, when required.’
As the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) evaluates Kenya’s human rights commitments under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), civil society organisations are using this moment to push for urgent reforms in Kenya’s public service sectors. Despite the unexpected postponement of Kenya’s formal review, the informal briefing scheduled for today presented a crucial opportunity for advocacy.
The postponement of Kenya’s official review is a disappointing setback for civil society, as it delays accountability on key human rights issues. However, GI-ESCR and its partners remain committed to ensuring that pressing concerns remain on the agenda.
The informal briefing allows for engagement with CESCR members, bringing forward critical findings from two key submissions presented in advance of the review.
Addressing the Need for More Public Schools and the Regulation of Private Actors in Kenya’s Education Sector
The first submission, co-authored by GI-ESCR and ICJ, builds on insights from our July 2024 report, ‘Build Us More Schools!: The Quest for Quality Free Education in Mabatini and Ngei Wards of Mathare, Nairobi’. This report explores the increasing influence of private actors in Kenya’s education sector, particularly in informal settlements, and stresses the state’s failure to ensure universal access to quality, free public education.
The submission calls on the government to:
- Construct new public schools to reduce reliance on low-cost private alternatives;
- Convert selected Alternative Provision of Basic Education and Training (APBET) schools into public schools;
- Increase the allocation of qualified teachers to underserved areas;
- Strengthen the regulation of private education providers to uphold human rights standards.
Financing Public Services in Kenya
The second submission, developed by GI-ESCR in collaboration with CEPCJ, EACHRights, and Hakijamii, highlights the chronic underfunding of essential public services, particularly education and healthcare. It examines the impact of the Kenya Finance Bill protests, which erupted in response to tax increases and escalated into riots. Against this backdrop, the submission exposes how regressive tax policies and austerity measures have further eroded government investment in critical services, deepening inequality and disproportionately affecting marginalised communities’ access to quality education and healthcare.
The submission urges the CESCR to call on Kenya to:
- Implement progressive tax reforms to finance public services adequately;
- Address structural inequality and ensure fair budget allocation;
- Enhance transparency and accountability in the management of public funds;
- Increase health and education spending to align with international human rights obligations.
You can access both submissions here.
The Informal Briefing: A Moment for Advocacy
Although Kenya’s formal review was pushed back, today’s informal briefing provided an opportunity to highlight pressing concerns. The session featured two oral statements, each addressing critical aspects of Kenya’s education and public service challenges.
Elsie Milimu from KELIN Kenya presented an oral statement on behalf of GI-ESCR, CEPCJ, EACHRights, and Hakijamii, focusing on the impact of regressive tax policies and the urgent need for fairer taxation and increased public investment in essential services. She highlighted how unfair tax structures have exacerbated inequality, forcing low-income communities to bear a disproportionate tax burden while education and healthcare systems remain underfunded.
She pointed to the devastating impact of rising debt levels and austerity measures, which have restricted government spending on essential services. She called for a fundamental shift in Kenya’s fiscal policy, urging the CESCR to recommend that the government move towards a more progressive taxation system that ensures the wealthiest sectors of society contribute fairly to public service financing. Milimu further emphasised that inadequate public investment has left many communities struggling to access affordable healthcare and quality education, pushing people into financial hardship and deepening economic inequality.
She urged CESCR to recommend that Kenya adopt fairer tax policies, strengthen transparency in public spending, and ensure that sufficient resources are allocated to crucial public services. She also highlighted the urgent need for inclusive public participation in fiscal policy decision-making, ensuring that tax and budget policies reflect the needs of marginalised communities.
Noah Adipo, representing ICJ and GI-ESCR, delivered a separate statement emphasising the dire state of education in Mathare, where a lack of public schools has left many children without accessible, quality education. He described how two administrative wards, home to nearly 100,000 residents, have no public schools, forcing children to walk long distances to attend overcrowded schools or rely on expensive, often substandard, private alternatives.
Adipo detailed the severe overcrowding in existing public schools, where students are crammed into classrooms far exceeding their capacity, making learning conditions inadequate. He also highlighted the financial burden on families who are forced to send their children to low-cost private schools that lack government oversight, leading to inconsistent education quality.
He called on CESCR to press the Kenyan government to construct new public schools in Mathare’s Ngei and Mabatini wards, ensuring all children have access to free, quality education as guaranteed under national and international law. He also stressed the need for government regulation of private schools, ensuring that they meet proper standards and do not exploit vulnerable families struggling to afford education.
These statements provided CESCR members with concrete evidence of the systemic issues facing communities and the policy changes required to address them. They reinforced the need for immediate government action to meet its human rights obligations in education, taxation, and public service funding.
Calls for Reform: Perspectives on Education and Public Services in Kenya
Noah Adipo, Wilson Macharia (International Commission of Jurists), and Roselyne Onyango (Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights) provided further insights, underscoring the urgent need to address inadequate public schooling, underfunded social services, and economic policies that disproportionately impact marginalised communities.
- Noah Adipo (community representative from Mathare, Nairobi) emphasised the long distances children must travel to access overcrowded schools or expensive private alternatives, urging CESCR to recommend the construction of inclusive public schools in Ngei and Mabatini wards.
- Wilson Macharia (ICJ) underscored the Kenyan government’s legal obligation to provide free, quality public education. Referencing the ‘Build Us More Schools!’ report, he pointed out the government’s failure to meet this obligation and called for stronger accountability mechanisms.
- Roselyne Onyango (GI-ESCR) expanded on the broader issue of public service underfunding, citing unfair tax policies, rising debt, and budget cuts as major barriers to sustainable investment in education and healthcare. She urged CESCR to push for progressive tax reforms to secure long-term public service financing.
Kenya’s Human Rights Record Under Scrutiny
The postponement of the CESCR review highlights the ongoing challenges of state accountability. Kenya’s delay in addressing these urgent human rights concerns reinforces civil society’s demand for transparency and meaningful dialogue. This informal briefing ensures that the voices of affected communities and advocacy groups continue to be heard, even in the absence of the formal review.
On 11 October, our Executive Director, Magdalena Sepúlveda, participated in the Expert Group Workshop on intersectionality in the UN human rights system to strengthen gender and antiracism analysis.
The workshop aimed to identify challenges and develop strategies for intersectional work. Intersectionality framework is crucial for combating systemic oppression of gender and race. Workshop participants included current and former representatives from different UN human rights mechanisms, including Special Procedures, UN treaty bodies, and experts from civil society organisations.
The workshop set the stage for greater collaboration and practical tools for a genuine intersectional approach. The outcome will be a summary report with findings and recommendations for strengthening intersectional approaches.
