GI-ESCR delivered the normative proposal on universal quality public services and fair taxation policy at one of Chile’s Constitutional Convention commission

Our message of public services was delivered! Yesterday, our Chile team along with partners presented the normative proposal on universal quality public services and fair taxation policy in the 49th session of the Form of State Commission of the Constitutional Convention.

The Commission, in charge of formulating the constitutional provisions around the internal territorial organisation of the State, decentralisation and tax equality, thanked the team for the presentation and highlighted the importance of creating these contents from the ground up, specially from those who have experience operating public services.
The presentation advocated for the connection of human rights, public services and fiscal policy as means of satisfaction of economic, social and cultural rights. Regarding public services, the presentation stressed the need to incorporate a priority duty of the State to satisfy ESCR, the need for public services to be democratically and publicly controlled and the need for them to have long-term financing to avoid regression, drawing from the content of the Global Manifesto for Public Services and the Principles for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy.

This hearing has a key impact in that the Commission in charge of deciding on public services structures can now draw from the contents of the Manifesto, opening a real possibility for the Chilean Constitution to be the first legislation to be influenced by this work in the world.

This initiative is part of our work in Chile where –according to our GI-ESCR 2022-2025 Strategic Plan – we seek to reinforce the capacity of national institutional frameworks to tackle social and economic injustice effectively. Want to know more? Explore all our work in Chile’s Constitutional Process here.

Video (min. 1:19:45 to 1:44:23)

This is the second time GI-ESCR has been able to broadly advocate for the proposal among a full Constitutional Convention Commission and if approved, this would be the first legislation to be influenced by the Global Manifesto for Public Services and the Principles for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy in the world. . Read more about our first presentation Here.