Kind Reminder: the economy should serve people, not the other way around.

For too long, markets have been treated as if they exist outside the realm of human rights. The green transition is a perfect example. We need a decentralized green transition that benefits people, not driven by profits. To rein the economy in we also need fair fiscal policies .Being at the forefront of these debates, we took part at a session, titled “𝗧𝗮𝘅 𝗝𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁: 𝗔𝗻 𝗢𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻,”  Our colleagues emphasized that fairer taxing policies empower communities and uphold the right to development for all.

OHCHR at CBD COP16

Ever increasing negative impacts of human activities have had a particularly detrimental effect on the rich biological diversity on our planet. Such planetary issues demand global responses which is why many states ratified the UN Convention on biological diversity where they periodically meet on conferences of parties (COP)to discuss implementation. Last week our branch took part in COP16 where it helped State parties to, among other successes, authorizes the Executive secretary to develop tools and guidance on 5 different topics.

News from the Surge block

Realizing the need to step up efforts on seeding the human rights economy change, OHCHR started the SURGE initiative in 2019, which already contributed to several improvements in practice (e.g. empowering Roma in Serbia, building more resilient safety nets in Paraguay).

Now we bring you the latest SURGE blog which features features the World Social Protection Report 2024-26. Although improving in comparison to 2015, he situation is still dire as only 52.4% of the world’s population is covered by at least one social protection benefit, with the coverage rate plummeting to a mere 9.7% in low-income countries.

African charter protocol for older persons

Hurling towards economic progress must never forget those who contributed to it thus far. This is especially true now when the world is increasingly aging and as persons older than 65 already comprise 10% of the global population. Yet, despite they continue to be perceived by every other person and remain invisible on the international plane despite significant human rights challenges.This is exactly why the recent entry into force of a protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights guaranteeing rights for older persons marks a significant milestone for human rights of older persons worldwide. The document provides essential guidance towards rooting out ageism and guaranteeing access to life preserving care and other services to older persons.

Sustainable development goes local

Ever-increasing global urban population coupled with a need to make our homes sustainable makes urban planing and design a burden no one should carry alone. This is exactly why our colleagues from UN Habitat have been convening the World’s Urban Forum where knowledge and wisdom taken from trials and errors can be shared. Our branch is proud to have engaged with these stakeholders especially as the latest forum registered a record braking 25.000 participants. We made sure to take our time at the spotlight wisely and thus organized a series of events on localising human rights, Sustainable urban development and the UPR, and Culture-Powered  Public Spaces – as well as the Women’s Assembly in a working group focusing on the right to housing

Business responsibility for human rights

While States remain the main actors in protecting human rights worldwide, there is increasingly present movement demanding of business enterprises to respect human rights wherever they operated. As some business have more funds at their disposal then some entire countries, holding these and many other powerful entities to account becomes an imperative. Building on the applicable UN Guiding principles on business and human rights, our branch issued 4 landmark publications related to enabling proper access to remedial and complaint mechanisms for those hurt by the operations of businesses.