GI-ESCR submit inputs to the Human Rights Council on promoting human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals through transparent, accountable and efficient public service delivery. 

In response to the Human Rights Council resolution 52/8's call for submissions, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR) has submitted an input to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in response to its call for inputs regarding resolution 52/8 on promoting human rights and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through transparent, accountable and efficient public service delivery.  

The submission addresses the relationship between human rights and the need for transparent, accountable, and efficient public service delivery. Grounded in this broader context, the submission is informed by GI-ESCR's research, specifically focusing on strategies for delivering high-quality public education and healthcare services that are gender-transformative, sustainable, and financed through progressive taxation. Significantly, the submission provides insightful responses to the following questions:  

(1) What are the main challenges identified in your country/region in relation to public service delivery? Please address both institutional and practical barriers in your response. 

This question is addressed by highlighting the challenges caused by the insufficient financing of public schools and public health facilities. 

(4) What percentage of eligible individuals and households do not claim and/or benefit from public services in your country (non-take up)? What are the barriers that hinder them from accessing public services to which they are entitled? How can non-take-up be reduced? 

In response to this question, the submission highlights the significant disparity in growth rates between public schools and private schools in countries such as Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire. While in terms of health care, it highlights the financial and geographical barriers experienced by the marginalised populations of Kenya and Nigeria. 

(5) Please refer to challenges and good practices of public services delivery to persons belonging to groups in situations of vulnerability and marginalization including persons living in poverty, women and girls; children and youth; ethnic, national and linguistic minorities; persons with disabilities; indigenous peoples; migrants; and older persons. 

GI-ESCR highlights the lack of inclusive policies that specifically target marginalised groups, the limited access to quality education, inadequate infrastructure, shortage of well-trained teachers and insufficient resources as some of the challenges that hinder quality educational opportunities for marginalised groups. Whilst in terms of health it highlights how the majority of marginalised communities in Kenya and Nigeria  face information, geographic and financial barriers in accessing public healthcare services, while often resorting to unsafe, low-quality private healthcare services.   

(7) How is the participation of private actors in public service delivery regulated and monitored in your country/region? Please share challenges and good practices. 

The findings from the different reports by GI-ESCR and partners on the right to education show that in the countries of focus, there was a need to strengthen the regulation of private schools, with recommendations that include inspections and monitoring of private schools. While in health the response highlights how the private sector providers have more frequently violated medical standards of practice and their use was associated with poorer outcomes and inequalities, even if private health facilities presented reduced waiting times in comparison to the public healthcare sector. According to the same study, private healthcare providers were less efficient than public providers, partly due to private health providers’ incentives for unnecessary testing and treatments. 

(8) Describe economic policies, legislation, promising practices, or strategies and national, regional or local processes aimed at:  

• increasing social spending, through national and local budgets, for the provision of public services; 
• addressing structural discrimination in the provision of public services; 
• maximizing available resources for the provision of public services;  
• preventing corruption and associated illicit financial flows in the provision of public services; 
• reallocating public expenditure for the provision of public services 

In response to this, GI-ESCR highlights the crucial links between a country’s capacity to ensure human rights and its fiscal policy, emphasising the importance of fair and progressive collection and redistribution of public resources. 

This submission is part of GI-ESCR's broader effort to contribute to the work of UN Treaty Bodies through progressive normative development and action-oriented human rights research.  

Read more about our work on public services and human rights here.