Chile’s Constitutional Process
GI-ESCR’s action in Chile aims to promote rights-respecting, gender inclusive and climate-sensitive alternatives for Chile’s constitutional process and economic policy debates.
During 2022 GI-ESCR continued its work in Chile, pushing for a rights-respecting, gender-inclusive and social justice agenda in the constitutional process.
The Constitutional Convention established in 2021 offered the ideal opportunity to develop and apply a progressive conception of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), including standards on gender equality, public services and fiscal policies.
Having begun our work in Chile in late 2019, by 2022 GI-ESCR had become a key player in Chile’s social and political ecosystem. Already recognised for our expertise in ESCR and our support for a participatory constitutional reform process, during the year, we strengthened our work with unions, grassroots organisations, NGOs, and members of the Constitutional Convention. We also consolidated the digital platform La Constitución es Nuestra (‘The Constitution is Ours’), which was launched in 2021 by GI-ESCR, Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente, Fundación Avina and Amnesty International Chile to disseminate information and facilitate citizen participation. During 2022, more than forty civil society organisations were involved in developing joint advocacy strategies to promote the inclusion of economic, social, cultural, environmental and gender rights in the text of the Constitutional Convention.
The Constitutional Convention established in 2021 offered the ideal opportunity to develop and apply a progressive conception of economic, social and cultural rights (ESCR), including standards on gender equality, public services and fiscal policies.
Having begun our work in Chile in late 2019, by 2022 GI-ESCR had become a key player in Chile’s social and political ecosystem. Already recognised for our expertise in ESCR and our support for a participatory constitutional reform process, during the year, we strengthened our work with unions, grassroots organisations, NGOs, and members of the Constitutional Convention. We also consolidated the digital platform La Constitución es Nuestra (‘The Constitution is Ours’), which was launched in 2021 by GI-ESCR, Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente, Fundación Avina and Amnesty International Chile to disseminate information and facilitate citizen participation. During 2022, more than forty civil society organisations were involved in developing joint advocacy strategies to promote the inclusion of economic, social, cultural, environmental and gender rights in the text of the Constitutional Convention.
Stories of impact
Our normative proposal was included in the draft constitution prepared by Chile’s Constitutional Convention
In 2022, along with partners and as part of our programmatic work in Chile, we submitted to the Chilean Constitutional Convention a normative proposal for universal public services of good quality. The proposal was accepted by the Constitutional Convention and eventually included into the draft constitution.
The proposal was inspired by the Global Manifesto for Public Services and the Principles of Human Rights in fiscal policy. It reflected our advocacy work to recognise ESC rights in Chile’s new Constitution and also fulfilled our programmatic objective to strengthen the capacity of national human rights frameworks to tackle social and economic injustice effectively.
The proposal was submitted through the popular initiative instrument (iniciativa popular de norma), a direct democracy mechanism created during the 2022 Constitutional process. The procedure enabled citizens and organisations to submit to the official constitutional debate any proposal that gathered the support of at least 15.000 signatures. Our proposal was among the 77 proposals (out of 2,495) that the Constitutional Convention deliberated.
The victory was bittersweet, however. The draft proposed by the Constitutional Convention was subsequently rejected in a referendum in September 2022. Despite the setback, we learned critical lessons that will help us to engage in the new constitutional process that is due to begin in 2023.
Overall, GI-ESCR successfully developed and strengthened working partnerships with national and international trade unions, civil society and grassroots organisations. These alliances enabled us to gather the signatures required by the constitutional process and then influence the work of the Constitutional Convention. While it is difficult to predict whether a new constitutional process will include this provision, we believe our initiative successfully linked public services, fiscal policies and ESC rights to the public agenda for the first time. This change has already shaped public and political perceptions of these issues and will influence their inclusion in future phases of the constitutional process.
In 2022, along with partners and as part of our programmatic work in Chile, we submitted to the Chilean Constitutional Convention a normative proposal for universal public services of good quality. The proposal was accepted by the Constitutional Convention and eventually included into the draft constitution.
The proposal was inspired by the Global Manifesto for Public Services and the Principles of Human Rights in fiscal policy. It reflected our advocacy work to recognise ESC rights in Chile’s new Constitution and also fulfilled our programmatic objective to strengthen the capacity of national human rights frameworks to tackle social and economic injustice effectively.
The proposal was submitted through the popular initiative instrument (iniciativa popular de norma), a direct democracy mechanism created during the 2022 Constitutional process. The procedure enabled citizens and organisations to submit to the official constitutional debate any proposal that gathered the support of at least 15.000 signatures. Our proposal was among the 77 proposals (out of 2,495) that the Constitutional Convention deliberated.
The victory was bittersweet, however. The draft proposed by the Constitutional Convention was subsequently rejected in a referendum in September 2022. Despite the setback, we learned critical lessons that will help us to engage in the new constitutional process that is due to begin in 2023.
Overall, GI-ESCR successfully developed and strengthened working partnerships with national and international trade unions, civil society and grassroots organisations. These alliances enabled us to gather the signatures required by the constitutional process and then influence the work of the Constitutional Convention. While it is difficult to predict whether a new constitutional process will include this provision, we believe our initiative successfully linked public services, fiscal policies and ESC rights to the public agenda for the first time. This change has already shaped public and political perceptions of these issues and will influence their inclusion in future phases of the constitutional process.
