Tax Justice and Human Rights week

The second Week for Tax Justice and Human Rights included dialogues with diverse actors and a workshop for journalists and members of civil society who seek to generate debates and recommendations to promote fiscal measures that contribute to facing the crises in Latin America and the Caribbean. (*All activities will take place in Spanish)

From August 1 to 8, different civil society organizations, including GI-ESCR, experts, activists and social movements came together to give impetus to the Principles of Human Rights in Fiscal Policy, a document that consolidates the human rights standards that States must follow and respect when implementing your tax and spending policies.

During the Second Week for Tax Justice and Human Rights various events and open debates were held to jointly think about how to promote fiscal measures that respond to the multiple crises facing the region. They will also seek to reflect on how Human Rights Principles in Fiscal Policy can serve to move towards economies that put people and the planet first.

The post-pandemic recovery, gender inequalities that especially impact people with disabilities, the cannabis regulatory debate in light of fiscal principles, the climate crisis, among other issues that we will address during the events of the Second Week, demand today more than ever urgent fiscal responses that have human rights at their core.

The agenda of the Second Week for Tax Justice and Human Rights:

The day of face-to-face and virtual events and a course for journalists and members of civil society began on Monday, August 1 and ended on Monday, August 8.

Monday, August 1

Tax alternatives for a fair post-pandemic recovery

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated some of the most urgent problems in Latin America and the Caribbean: growing inequality and poverty, the climate crisis, and state capture, among others. Given that fiscal policy has enormous potential to combat these challenges, the scenario calls for a debate on fiscal alternatives that allow for a fair and green recovery.

Soledad García Muñoz, special rapporteur on ESCER of the IACHR; Olivia Minatta, from the Tax Justice in Latin America program of CESR; Marcio Ferreira Verdi, Executive Secretary of CIAT; Santiago Díaz de Sarralde, director of Tax Studies and Research at CIAT, and Daniel Titelman, director of ECLAC's Economic Development division, will speak with Ivahanna Larrosa, from the Coalition for Human Rights in Development.

Care systems. Solving a triple inequality: gender, disability and poverty

Gender and disability approaches on care, autonomy and support were addressed, to think about meeting points, differences, possible synergies and challenges that may arise when designing public policies that resolve the inequalities that affect women. women and LGBTIQ+ people and people with disabilities.

Lucía Cirmi Obón, Undersecretary of Equality Policies in the Ministry of Women, Gender and Diversity of Argentina; Ana Isabel Arenas, member of the Comprehensive Table of Care Economy of Colombia; Alberto Vásquez, a researcher at the Center for Inclusive Policy, and Noelia Méndez Santolaria, an economist at CIEPP and IAFFE, spoke with Lucía Ramírez, Gender Coordinator at Dejusticia, and with Malena Vivanco, a member of the Fiscal Justice Program at ACIJ.

Tools to Approach Tax Justice: course for journalists and members of civil society

The course aimed to strengthen theoretical knowledge and expand skills to analyse fiscal policy from a human rights approach and reduce the extreme concentration of wealth. At the end of the course, the participants will be familiar with the main national and international debates on the taxation of companies and individuals with greater economic capacity, they will know how the current tax privileges operate in Mexico, and they will have more tools to identify if the expense fulfills its objectives and contributes to guaranteeing human rights.

Fundar, Center for Analysis and Research and Fifth Element Lab, in collaboration with the Independent Commission on the Reform of International Business Taxation (ICRICT) and the Initiative for Human Rights in Tax Policy gave this course .

Tuesday, August 2

Latin America: a roadmap for tax and climate justice

The region is experiencing convulsed and uncertain times: the climate emergency and growing levels of socioeconomic inequality are added to the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet very few countries aggressively address wealth taxes. The response to this multiple crisis cannot involve a return to austerity or a fiscal sacrifice that increases inequality. It is time to expand the capacity of the State, exploring social and fiscal measures that fall on those who have suffered the least the cost so far.

Susana Ruiz, from Oxfam; Rodrigo Echecopar, from the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), and Jocelio Drummond, from Public Services International (PSI), talked with Alejandro Rodriguez-Llach, from the Independent Commission for the Reform of the International Taxation (ICRIT).

Thursday, August 4

Launch of the book 'Cannabis Fiscal Principles'

The publication "Cannabis Fiscal Principles: Elements for the Regulatory Debate in Colombia", by Dejusticia researchers Isabel Pereira, Luis Felipe Cruz and Alejandro Rodríguez was launched. This publication presents a proposal for cannabis tax principles with clear and practical content, based on comparative experiences and in light of the Human Rights Principles and Guidelines on Tax Policy.

Hernando Zuleta, professor at the Universidad de los Andes; Diana Paola Valenzuela, vice president of Assocolcanna, and Isabel Pereira, deputy director in charge of Dejusticia and author of a book, talked with Lorenzo Uribe, researcher of Dejusticia's Fiscal Justice line.

Who organizes the Second Week for Tax Justice and Human Rights?

This series of events was organized by the Initiative for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy and its Steering Committee, made up of eight organizations from the region in charge of managing the initiative and communicating and disseminating the Principles: ACIJ, CELS, CESR, Dejusticia, Fundar, Inesc, Tax Justice Network of Latin America and the Caribbean and GI-ESCR.

Together, these organizations seek to develop and promote the Principles of Human Rights in Fiscal Policy, a compendium that translates the general guidelines of Human Rights into more concrete guidelines that are easy to implement. The initiative is a project focused on Latin America and the Caribbean, organized in an open, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and diverse in gender and regional terms.