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Arts Competition 2023 Info Pack

Arts Competition 2023 Info Pack

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Background information

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) is collaborating with the University of Nairobi’s Center for Human Rights and Peace (UoN-CHRP) to organize an Arts Competition about the importance of public services. The theme for the 2023 competition is 'The Role of Public Services in building a Just, Inclusive and Equal Society'. The competition aims to raise awareness about the importance of public services in today's changing societies. 
Participants are invited to express their views and experiences on public services as a right, with a possible focus on specific areas such as education, health, water and sanitation. The competition aims to inspire the youth to envision the transformative potential of quality public services accessible to everyone, while further equipping participants and their communities to promote the right to public services.

What are public services and why are they important?

Public services encompass a range of services that are necessary to live a dignified life. Different societies may have different definitions for public services.[1]  In general, they include education, healthcare, transportation, housing, waste collection and disposal, water and sanitation, and can also include social security, energy, food, care services, among others.[1]

These services have traditionally been owned, managed, and delivered by the government for the benefit of the people, which is why they are referred to as ‘public services’.[2] Sometimes, the public services are directly owned and managed by communities in the interests of the people, and are not driven by any commercial or profit-making purposes.[2]

Public services are essential to the realisation of human rights. Some services are recognised as human rights (such as education and water) or deeply connected to the realisation of human rights (for example, you cannot enjoy the right to health without access to good quality healthcare services).

 

For public services to contribute to the enjoyment of human rights and enable a dignified life, they must be:

  • Available – they should exist 
  • Universal and accessible to all, including women, persons with disabilities, people living in poverty, without discrimination
  • Responsive to the needs they serve, and culturally appropriate
  • Participatory, meaning all members of the society should have an opportunity to participate when key decisions are being made
  • Good quality
  • Adequately funded
  • Transparent - it should be possible for anyone to access necessary information about the service
  • Accountable – where someone’s rights have been violated as they use the service, it should be possible to seek and get justice.

 

Why are public services important? 

Developing and ensuring equitable and universal access to quality public services is crucial to the realisation of human rights, reducing inequalities and building just, inclusive, and equal societies. Public services serve vital purposes that allow all of us to live a dignified life. They also ensure the protection of the environment and foster a sustainable planet. Public services serve essential purposes that should not be commodified. Meaning that governments and other actors, such as companies, should not take advantage of their importance to make a profit out of it. Public services are for the people, and reflect core values of society such as solidarity, equality and human dignity. It is thus key that those services remain public, available and universally accessible to all, without discrimination.

However, recent decades have seen the growing involvement of private actors in the provision of those services in ways that have reduced access and quality of public services, while increasing inequality in society. Political and economic powers have encouraged governments to privatise public services while reducing regulations that would ensure that people using the services are protected. This undermined the government’s role in the provision of these services. In many parts of the world, inequality has become so extreme that societies are unsustainable. Although the involvement of private actors may play a positive role in certain cases, the increased privatisation of public services raises many human rights concerns including evidence that it may lower the quality of and result in unequal access to these services, segregation, and the reinforcement of unbalanced power relations.[1]

Although these are challenging times, there are reasons to remain hopeful. A growing number of people and social organisations are coming together to raise awareness on the paramount importance of providing properly funded and good quality public services which are key for achieving economic, social and cultural rights. Public services are the foundation of a fair, inclusive and just society.

 

List of Resources that may help you gain more knowledge on Public Services and their importance

Videos

  1. Education is ours- A short video highlighting how the private actors in education are denying many children in Kenya, Chile, USA and across the globe the right to quality education and how the failure of governments to regulate and monitor private actors is exacerbating this inequality. 
  2. Nielimishe - a short film highlighting the challenges school-going children face accessing quality education in low-income urban environments in Nairobi. 
  3. Beats of time- a short film portraying the impact of public private partnerships and reproductive justice in Africa, threaded through three generations of Kenyan women and their dealings with their country’s public health system. 
  4. Health Rights in a Pandemic: A Case Study of Universal Health Care in Kenya- This documentary explores Kenya's path towards universal health care, highlighting the right to health and the importance of access to quality healthcare for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. It examines Kenya's pilot program prior to the pandemic, the impact of COVID-19, and the future steps needed to achieve the right to health in a post-COVID world.

 

Reading

  1. Healthcare Systems and the Commercialisation of Healthcare. A Glossary. The glossary defines important healthcare concepts including financing, provision, governance, actors involved, and different types of healthcare systems.
  2. Patients or Customers? The Impact of Commercialised Healthcare on the Right to Health in Kenya during the COVID-19 Pandemic- A report highlighting the consequences of policies in the health sector supporting the growth of private actors in the health sectors and how a lack of government regulation is impeding the enjoyment of the right to health especially to communities living in the informal settlements with a focus on the impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic. 
  3. Transparency of Private Commercial Education Providers: A case study of Bridge International Academies- A case study of Bridge Academies looking at the need for accountability and transparency for education provider whether private or state.
  4. Abidjan Principles Briefs-prepared GI-ESCR which are a reference point for governments, educators and education providers when debating the respective roles and duties of states and private actors in education.
  5. Public education works-lessons from five case-studies in low- and middle- income countries. Study showing that well-organised public education systems are possible and working everywhere, with political will and use of locally relevant practices.
  6. Global Manifesto for Public Services- The manifesto positions public services as the foundation of a fair and just society and of the social pact that implements the core values of solidarity, equality and human dignity. 
  7. Gender transformative public services- Webinar: From gender-responsive to gender-transformative public services. Public services as a tool to promote gender equality.
  8. States’ Human Rights Obligations Regarding Public Services The United Nations Normative Framework A policy brief looking at comments made by UN human rights monitoring bodies and experts about Economic Social and Cultural Rights including what are public services and the State obligations to provide the same.
  9. States’ Human Rights Obligations Regarding Public Services essential for the enjoyment of Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights - The regional perspective A policy brief capturing the concerns raised by the UN human rights treaty bodies and the standards developed by regional human rights bodies in response.
  10. Public education works lessons from five case-studies in low- and middle- income countries. Study showing that well-organised public education systems are possible and working everywhere, with political will and use of locally relevant practices.
  11. Public Financing of Public Services A brief on the importance of publicly funded public services and how this can be achieved.

 

What else you need to know

  1. The competition is open to all University of Nairobi student
  2. The genres are highlighted on the website and split according to Visual Arts and Performing arts. The participant is allowed to integrate elements of both genres in their submission e.g. Song and dance
  3. Participants must ensure their entries are original, not offensive or illegal, and related to the Competition's theme
  4. There will be an in person community discussion on public services for a just, inclusive and equal society for all interested students at the University of Nairobi main campus on 19th October 2023

For further information on the terms and conditions for the competition check out here

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Arts Competition 2023 - terms and conditions

Arts Competition 2023 - terms and conditions

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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.