Geneva Updates
Our strategic presence in Geneva sets us apart as the sole NGO exclusively committed to economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights. This permits us to play a pivotal role in promoting and protecting these rights globally.
We participated in the Global Alliance of Care launch on 26 April 2024. Government representatives and decision-makers participated in the event, which sought to foster discussions and debates on the centrality of care to life and explore possible policies to recognise, reduce and redistribute care for more just and sustainable societies. The meeting explored new avenues of action for the Global Alliance, which is looking to strengthen the alliances globally.
The meeting began with a panel discussion with the participation of Ambassador Tovar da Silva Nunes, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Brazil to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva; Ambassador Leslie E. Norton, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations and other International Organisations in Geneva; Ms. Ana B. Moreno Technical Secretary for the Global Alliance of Care; Mr. Paul Ladd Director of UNRISD and Ms. Fleur Heyworth Head of the International Gender Champions Secretariat.
The Global Alliance for Care, co-convened by the Government of Mexico through the National Institute of Women (INMUJERES) and UN Women, was launched in 2021 during the Generation Equality Forum. It is the first global multi-stakeholder community that facilitates and fosters spaces for collective action, advocacy, communication, and learning about care and its recognition as a need, work, and right. It is an articulation between governments, civil society, union associations, the philanthropic sector, international organisations, and academia seeking to advance the care agenda from the local to the global level.
The 75th session of the Pre-Sessional Working Group (PSWG) of the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR), which was due to take place from 30 September to 04 October 2024, has been canceled due to the UN liquidity crisis. During the session, the PSWG was set to review submissions to define the Lists of Issues (LOIs) for Cabo Verde, North Macedonia, South Korea, Tunisia, and Turkmenistan.
This decision was added to the list of effects the liquidity crisis has implied on the functioning of the UN human rights system. Back in January, hybrid modalities for UN human rights bodies and mechanisms in Geneva were suspended, hindering the participation and engagement of States and CSOs, especially those from the Global South. Furthermore, at the beginning of April, the Committee on the Rights of the Child also had to cancel its PSWG session. These actions hinder the State Review Process by sacrificing meaningful and effective involvement of States and CSOs. Additionally, by canceling these sessions and delaying the reviews, the Committees will further increase their backlogs.
With partners, we have joined statements by CSOs criticising these measures, highlighting the importance of these spaces and requesting states to pay their fees to the United Nations. We signed a petition against cancelling the CRC's PSWG session and a letter urging States to fulfil their financial obligations. We remain concerned about cancelling these events that represent meaningful opportunities to address the human rights policies of the states. By eliminating these spaces for discussion, the capacity of international institutional frameworks to address human rights violations effectively will be severely impacted.
Nonetheless, we remain committed to continuing to engage and further our advocacy efforts before the UN human rights system. In particular, we welcome the confirmation of the 76th session of CESCR (09 - 27 Sep 2024), where the Committee will have the opportunity to continue promoting and protecting economic, social, and cultural rights worldwide and to creatively address the effects of the organisation's liquidity crisis.
Together with ESCR-Net, we contributed input on loss and damage to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development's Annual Report for 2024.
The input provided underscored the reality of loss and damage through the situations local communities are facing due to the effects of climate change. The contribution shows the need for further action on loss and damage to protect the right to development.
Organisations conveyed to the Special Rapporteur the need for further efforts to guarantee the rights of those most vulnerable to climate change, especially from the Global North.
The submission also addressed the obligations of States and the need for corporate accountability in relation to loss and damage. We highlighted the need for radical reforms in light of the significant influence of States and corporations in perpetuating dependence on fossil fuels.
We also focused on states' failure to regulate businesses and hold those responsible for their extractive and exploitative practices accountable.
The brief also focussed on the lack of accountability from corporations, especially transnational corporations, which are some of the most significant drivers causing and profiting from the climate crisis.
The submission noted that those actions of States and corporations in their endless greed for economic growth - co-opted as 'development'- are actually hindering the right to development.
The brief also focussed on further actions needed from States to comply with their obligations according to the right to
development.
Moreover, the brief discusses the need to phase out fossil fuels, end militarism and divest from the arms industry, address the impact of loss and damage on cultural heritage and identity, and advance climate policies with the input of impacted communities.
The submission also underscores the importance of following a human rights approach when operationalising the loss and damage fund.
We called on the Rapporteur to stress that the fund should not create debt, be granted through public finance, and operate based on Polluter Pays and CBDR-RC principles.
The brief also called the Rapporteur's attention to the need to ensure the meaningful and effective participation of frontline communities and ascertain its transparency and accountability.
Finally, we also called on the Rapporteur to emphasise the need to recognise and respect the collective rights of Indigenous Peoples.
With this contribution, we continue our advocacy efforts towards the UN mandate, pushing for a fair and sustainable transition that follows human rights and social and climate justice principles.
You may read the presentation here:
In alliance with the Initiative for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy, ACIJ, CELS, Dejusticia, the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), and Fundar, we echoed the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights's call to provide input to the comprehensive thematic study on the human rights dimension of care and support.
Highlighting the links between fiscal policies and care, the contribution focused on the importance of these instruments in promoting and guaranteeing the human rights of care providers and care receivers. By addressing the allocation of resources to recognise, reduce, and redistribute unpaid care work, equitable taxation, and the measurement of care work and its contribution to national accounts, the document highlights the importance of financial resources to guarantee rights in practice fully.
As such, the report focuses on how fiscal policy can contribute to ensuring the right to care through national budgeting processes, including a human rights and gender perspective that enables allocating resources to reduce and redistribute unpaid care work and ensure equitable tax collection. The presentation also proposed concrete measures to overcome the current situation, such as providing public care services and community care infrastructure, and revenue-raising provisions to eliminate tax loopholes and regressive tax measures.
The thematic study, commissioned by the Human Rights Council through Resolution 54/6, seeks to assess the human rights dimension of care and support, summarising and compiling international standards, good practices, and the main challenges at the national level in care and support systems. It will include recommendations on promoting and ensuring the human rights of caregivers and care and support recipients.
Our contribution, developed as part of our strategic priority to reinforce the capacity of international institutional frameworks to tackle social and economic injustice effectively, also furthers our advocacy efforts to mainstream the progressive fiscal policies perspective among the United Nations and beyond.
You can read the full text of the submission here (in Spanish only):
On April 17, GI-ESCR participated in the official launch of the State of World Population Report by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The event took place in Geneva, featuring a panel discussion that included Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund; Magdalena Sepulveda, Executive Director of GI-ESCR; Gilma Viera da Silva, a youth representative from Afro-descendant populations in Latin America; Jarrod Clyne, Head of Advocacy at the International Disability Alliance (IDA); and April Pham, Senior Gender Advisor and Chief of the Gender Unit at UNOCHA.
The report, entitled “Interwoven Lives, Threads of Hope: Ending Inequalities in Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights”, explores how far we have achieved sexual and reproductive health and rights for all since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development.
The panel discussion addressed how power and opportunity related to gender, race and nationality, among many other factors, still largely constrain people’s choices in life. In a world of enormous wealth and proven solutions in sexual and reproductive health care, such disparity suggests a shortfall in will and not a lack of ideas or resources.
During the discussions, panelists stressed how intersecting inequalities persist within health systems and must be remedied if the right to sexual and reproductive health for all is to be realised. The panel called on the need to address the root causes of inequalities, so health systems must move towards providing services that do not just treat people but empower them, respond to their diversity, and respect their rights and bodily autonomy.
The discussion also acknowledged that the solution lies beyond health systems. To achieve true equality, the systemic inequalities faced by those furthest behind must be tackled head-on economically, socially, and politically.
Jointly with 139 other civil society organisations working for the promotion and protection of children’s rights, we signed a letter expressing concern over the cancellation of the pre-session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child in May 2024 due to the UN liquidity crisis. This decision sets a worrisome precedent, hindering the Committee’s ability to fulfil its vital role in overseeing the implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. The cancellation disrupts the established process of reviewing States parties, depriving children, civil society and other stakeholders of opportunities to contribute effectively.
Furthermore, the postponement of the pre-session has significant repercussions, particularly for children and civil society representatives who have spent months preparing to engage with the Committee. The announcement, mere days before submissions were due, has led to frustration and a sense of disempowerment among children and civil society. This disruption wastes efforts and undermines the essential dialogue between stakeholders and the Committee.
These developments occur in the context of broader challenges facing the UN human rights system, with the cancellation of hybrid modalities for human rights bodies earlier in the year exacerbating concerns. There is now a risk that crucial events like the Day of General Discussion could face postponement or cancellation, further impeding meaningful engagement on pressing issues such as children’s access to justice. This erosion of engagement opportunities for civil society and children is deeply concerning, particularly amid ongoing global crises affecting children disproportionately. It underscores the urgent need for UN Member States to fulfil their financial obligations to ensure the effective functioning of vital human rights mechanisms.
You can read the letter here.
On April 8, at World Health Organization (WHO) headquarters in Geneva, we participated on a high-level dialogue between WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mr Volker Türk. The event marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the WHO.
We contributed to the event with a pre-recorded intervention. Lou Aya Douabou, Programme Officer on Africa at GI-ESCR, shared a personal story that exemplifies how lack of access to timely emergency health care can result in death. The intervention also reflected on how healthcare commercialisation undermines the enjoyment of the right to health. This prompted a discussion on the urgent need to expand universal access to healthcare services to realise the rights to life and health by addressing the root causes of socioeconomic inequalities. GI-ESCR’s Programme Officer on the Right to Health, Rossella De Falco, attended the event in-person.
The full video of the event is available here.
On Friday, 23 February 2024 the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights held its annual meeting with civil society organisations at its 75th session to establish a dialogue on the working methods and substantive work of CESCR. This event has become a staple of the CESCR sessions year by year, bringing its work closer to civil society.
The annual CSO meeting included twenty-five participants from civil society organisations. During the meeting, eight representatives from different NGOs and NHRIs took to the floor to share their comments and concerns with the Committee. The meeting also included 13 video messages sent in by organisations unable to attend in-person. The conference was carried out through four segments, each ending with the reactions from Committee members.
The meeting had a dual purpose, both amplifying the work of the Committee and bringing its attention to different issues observed by civil society. This year the event was hold in person in Geneva. Nevertheless, to guarantee greater participation, GI-ESCR facilitated the presentation of video messages by CSOs not based in Geneva. Through this channel, 13 NGOs were able to deliver their messages and bring them to the attention of the Committee.
With the organisation of this event, GI-ESCR maintains its commitment to facilitating the participation of organisations from the Global South at the international level. Additionally, it is aligned with the priority of strengthening the work of UN bodies.
On Friday, 23 February 2024 the Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights held its annual meeting with civil society organisations at its 75th session to establish a dialogue on the working methods and substantive work of CESCR. This event has become a staple of the CESCR sessions year by year, bringing its work closer to civil society.
The annual CSO meeting included twenty-five participants from civil society organisations. During the meeting, eight representatives from different NGOs and NHRIs took to the floor to share their comments and concerns with the Committee. The meeting also included 13 video messages sent in by organisations unable to attend in-person. The conference was carried out through four segments, each ending with the reactions from Committee members.
The meeting had a dual purpose, both amplifying the work of the Committee and bringing its attention to different issues observed by civil society. This year the event was hold in person in Geneva. Nevertheless, to guarantee greater participation, GI-ESCR facilitated the presentation of video messages by CSOs not based in Geneva. Through this channel, 13 NGOs were able to deliver their messages and bring them to the attention of the Committee.
With the organisation of this event, GI-ESCR maintains its commitment to facilitating the participation of organisations from the Global South at the international level. Additionally, it is aligned with the priority of strengthening the work of UN bodies.
