On 17 July, after the release of Revision 2 of the Pact of the Future, along with a coalition of organisations from around the world, we drafted a civil society briefing note entitled "Filling the Gaps in the Rev. 2 of the Pact for the Future." 

The note was supported by 19 organisations throughout the globe, including the Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE), the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), Make Mothers Matter (MMM), the Green Economy Coalition, the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), Tax Justice Network (TJN), Public Services International (PSI) and the Right to Education Initiative (RTE), proposed a set of concrete changes to the text of the Pact for the Future, regarding human rights, economic justice, public services, education, health, environmental justice, and care and social protection.

The document sought to alert the negotiators in New York to the potential human rights violations the Pact could incur. To gather support, the note was delivered directly to the Permanent Missions of Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and Honduras and to other civil society organisations working on diverse topics.

Although the briefing note welcomed several improvements since Rev. 1, such as the assurance of "equitable access to social services" for youth, the increased investment in the care and support economy, the strengthened combat of tax evasion and avoidance, the promotion of universal health coverage and an improved approach to the impacts of climate change on human rights; it also critiqued some areas where the language was weakened, or gaps were left unaddressed, thus altering the protection of universal human rights. 

One of the main concerns was the appearance of strong language throughout the text, favouring market solutions, including promoting private investments, and public-private partnerships and adopting well-known recipes of deregulation to create "enabling environments." The note also critiqued the almost complete absence of wording regarding the duties and responsibilities of private actors or the states' responsibilities to regulate private actors' activities to guarantee that they respect the interests and rights of the people.

The document also called attention to the commercialisation of public services, meaning the adoption of market-driven approaches and practices to deliver public services. This has placed services and resources that were publicly owned and managed in private hands and, too often, has gone hand in hand with corporate capture of public decision-making. Furthermore, the commercialisation and privatisation of public services have increased inequality and entrenched power disparities, putting profit and greed ahead of people's rights and ecological and social well-being.

Finally, the note urged effective climate action, including the imperative to rapidly and equitably phase out fossil fuels and the importance of advancing a just transition to sustainable societies—a vision that must underpin the Pact for the Future to ensure societies where people and nature can thrive.

You can read the full briefing note here.