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The COVID-19 Pandemic And Its Impact On Economic, Social And Cultural Rights

COVID-19 - Economy or Human Rights? False Dilemma

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky

 

When the life and health of populations are at stake, business as usual must not go on; there is a need to ensure that normal operations do not erode health policies to control the spread of the disease and the associated risk of a collapse of public health systems. Whether lives are protected or greater economic wealth is produced in a given year is a choice that has to incorporate a human rights perspective. The economy as such cannot operate as a trump, especially since it did allow for the majority of people to have their economic and social rights realized.

Some governments seem to promote an approach consisting of “saving the economy” at any costs, including by putting the health and lives of the majority of their populations at stake. By the same token, this economy centric approach is often accompanied by a similar lack of enthusiasm to reduce inequalities, ensure the realization of economic and social rights of all or to reduce deaths or health problems from pollution and climate change.  Therefore, “saving the economy” also means prioritising the interests of a certain elite. 

In this sense, it is necessary to distinguish big corporations’ claims to maintain their profits, from the needs of impoverished workers who try to earn their daily livelihood. While it is important to minimize social and economic impact of the economic recession, by supporting  employment through ensuring the survival of the business sector as a whole, alternatives do exist. Such alternatives could include, targeted, temporary and compulsory payment holidays from taxes, rent, and mortgages, other debts owed or other types of relief.  The existence of a large portion of the working force employed in multiple informal conditions or short-term contracts increases the difficulty to protect jobs through only bailing out small and informal businesses. With a high number of people deprived of their livelihood, it is of utmost importance that such initiative focus on people, from a human rights perspective.

The “economy first” approach cannot mean leaving people on their own to cope with the pandemic. Besides, thousands of people dying does not sound like a great contribution to the economy from a purely consequentialist viewpoint. In turn, implementing robust public health policies that saves lives and prevent health systems from collapsing should be complemented by policies to make possible that the economic system produces and delivers goods and services to fulfil basic human rights while minimizing the long term negative economic effects of the pandemic. A failure to put human rights at the centre of the governmental action plans in response to Covid-19 does not save the economy, it only leads to the worst of both worlds.

From a human rights perspective, potential impacts of the upcoming recession include challenges in the way of the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights including food, housing, health, education, water and sanitation, social protection non-discrimination and just and favourable conditions of work. As clearly established under human rights law, individuals should not choose between achieving one of their basic human rights over another. For instance, this could take the form of people reducing food intakes to be able to afford housing or medical care.

We cannot afford getting back to business as usual. We know the Covid-19 pandemic is a shock calling for rethinking the economic, financial and social system we are living in to reduce inequalities among and within countries, as well as between men and women. 

Both the Covid-19 crisis, and the already unfolding effects of climate change, demonstrate the fragility of our current economic and social arrangements. Our systems cannot cope under the strain of these events, from climate to pandemics, and experts predict that these events will become more frequent and severe. And when these events unfold, our economic and social systems appear to protect the adequate living conditions mainly of elites, while the majority of people are pushed into more precarious living conditions, from increased poverty, poorer health, precarious livelihoods, and actual destitution; all of which makes people much more vulnerable to mortality when disaster strikes.  These are violations of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health and to an adequate standard of living, and the continuous improvement of living conditions for all. 

Yet the concerted action taken in the face of the Covid-19 crisis demonstrates that coordinated action and a rapid change in policy and practice is possible to face global challenges. Sudden drops in production and consumption associated with the current pandemic crisis, which have been accompanied by pollution and greenhouse gas emissions falling across continents, call into question our reliance on economic growth as a measure of progress and the health of our societies.  At the same time, it highlights the important role of governments in protecting the livelihoods, and rights to an adequate standard of living – including rights to adequate housing, social protection, and health care – of people.  Economies remain important, especially in providing the material underpinnings for a good life for all, through essential services, decent work, and adequate material goods.  But they should serve the public good, and be guided by human rights principles, rather than relying on speculation, high private debt, unregulated consumption and degradation of natural resources in ways that increase our vulnerabilities and which our planet cannot sustain. For the same reasons, States should not provide subsidies (bail-outs) and other emergency benefits to sectors whose existence is in direct contradiction the Paris Agreement, including its 1.5-degree limit target, and have no chance of transition.

States have to save lives and economies so there are jobs for people at the end and basic goods and services can be delivered during the crisis– but this must be done wisely and responsibly with public health and other human rights impacts as the primary consideration.  In a letter I submitted today to all governments and international financial institutions, I proposed a number of specific measures covering a wide range of economic, financial, monetary, fiscal, tax, trade, and social policies that were presented to contribute achieving these goals.

Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, United Nations Independent Expert on debt and human rights. He has published books and articles on sovereign financing, foreign investment, transitional justice, and human rights. Twitter: @IEfinanceHRs

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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.