In the context of the resumption of the negotiation sessions on the terms of reference for the future United Nations Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, civil society organisations and experts spoke out in favour of including a human rights perspective in a predominant way in this treaty. 

This international instrument, with the potential to govern tax and fiscal relations between members of the international community in the future, could be critical to generating the necessary financial resources to expand states' fiscal space and implement transformative public policies to respect, protect, and fulfill economic, social, and cultural rights throughout the world.

The submission welcomes the 'zero draft' circulated by the Ad Hoc Drafting Committee, as it considers the legally binding nature of the future UN Tax Convention and presents space for the inclusion of human rights principles to address extreme inequalities and the climate emergency. 

However, the terms of reference need to go further and address the effective reform of the current international tax system, which facilitates the constant loss of resources due to tax abuse and systematically benefits the countries of the Global North at the expense of the countries of the Global South and their peoples.

In this regard, the submission includes the following recommendations:

-Ensure the final text of the terms of reference is robust and ambitious and not limited to procedural issues, such as suggested in the submissions of some member's States in their responses to the zero draft; 

-Maintain the explicit and clear reference to human rights standards as one of the principles of the Convention in the terms of reference, and include a reference to the United Nations Charter in the preamble; 

-Commit to maintaining and expanding in the final text of the terms of reference the issues currently included in the zero draft, which are at the core of the human rights agenda, such as the connection between tax and climate and taxation of the extremely wealthy; 

-Introduce explicit references to the principles of equity, progressivity, and gender equality. 

-Ensure that those most affected by the depletion of tax resources to tax abuse can adequately participate in the next steps of the negotiations and within the framework convention, including by ensuring that civil society organisations can participate meaningfully. 

-Ensure developing countries can meaningfully participate by recognising and addressing their specific needs.