PHM-Exch> Towards a Human Rights Response to the Financial Crisis and Global Economic Recession

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Nicholas Lusiani <nlusiani at escr-net.org>
crossposted from: "escr-net_members at yahoogroups.com" <
escr-net_members at yahoogroups.com>



 *ESCR-Net Activity Update*

Towards a Human Rights Response to the Financial Crisis and Global Economic
Recession

17 July 2009



 We would like to express our appreciation to you for supporting our Collective
Statement on the Financial Crisis and Global Economic Recession: Towards a
Human Rights Response<http://www.escr-net.org/usr_doc/EconomicCrisisHRStatement_ESCR-Net_final_eng_withendorsements.pdf>,
which calls for a response to the financial crisis and economic recession
that places human rights norms at the center of the agenda, in which people
and the environment, not banks or business, are fundamental in economic
policy-making. Elaborated in close coordination with interested members,
participants and partners, the Collective Statement has so far received
almost 300 endorsements, been translated into five languages, and has been
highlighted in various media and civil society outlets.



We would like to take this opportunity now to share with you the outcomes of
ESCR-Net’s activities in the promotion of our Collective Statement during
the UN Summit Conference on the Economic and Financial
Crisis<http://www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/>.
For a more in-depth analysis of its outcomes by ESCR-Net member Center of
Concern, read here <http://www.coc.org/node/6402>.



At the outset, we sent the Collective Statement to various key governments
during the pre-Conference negotiations to influence the outcome document
text, and build awareness about the importance and necessity of using the
human rights framework in determining economic policy. On the eve of the
Summit, ESCR-Net also co-organized with Social Watch and 13 other
organizations “People's Voices on the
Crisis<http://www.escr-net.org/events/events_show.htm?doc_id=911650>,”
an afternoon event which fostered discussion by people affected by the
global economic crisis on issues related to gender rights, social rights and
economic security -- topics traditionally under-addressed at the
international level. Video coverage of this event will soon be released,
including presentations by the President of the General Assembly and
advocates around the world. ESCR-Net also participated in and contributed to
10 Days of Action <http://tendays.socialwatch.org/>, a collaborative effort
by dozens of organizations to promote the critical importance of a human
rights-oriented approach to the financial crisis. As one example, during the
second evening of the Conference, ESCR-Net members co-hosted “A Human Rights
Response to the Economic Crisis in the
US<http://www.escr-net.org/events/events_show.htm?doc_id=950597>,”
which aimed to assess economic policy in the US using the lens of
universally-recognized human rights standards. A Civil Society Background
document <http://www.coc.org/system/files/Final_CS_Background_Document.pdf>including
key recommendations was also released just before the Conference,
which upheld human rights as among the core civil society demands.



After weeks of tense negotiations, governments released the Outcome
Document<http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=A/RES/63/303&Lang=E>just
before the official conference began. To the surprise of many, the
document was quickly and quietly approved. Not only was it less ambitious
and far-reaching than had been hoped, no government asked that it be opened
up for debate or amendment during the conference. As a product of consensus
among governments, it is far from the historically progressive document that
we, like Father Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann, the President of the UN General
Assembly, had pushed for.


That being said, the Outcome Document moves some steps forward. It
represents the first, and so far only, global consensual agreement to
address the financial and economic crisis and the myriad problems it
presents. The Outcome Document itself also recognizes the heightened human
risks arising from the crisis, as was underscored in our Collective
Statement, in particular to women and children. Also noteworthy was that it
highlights the impact of the financial crisis on migrant workers, and
invited the ILO to present the “Global Jobs Pact” to the Economic and Social
Council of the UN in July.



In addition to short-term measures, the Outcome Document also sows the seeds
for some long-term structural changes demanded in our Collective Statement
which we can built upon.



Paramount among these changes is its recognition of a role for the UN in the
coordination of economic and financial affairs and in discussions on needed
reforms of the international financial system and architecture. This implies
recognition that in this area, often presumed the exclusive domain of
financial and economic experts, the integration of human rights, social,
gender and other aspects where the UN has a unique vantage point have a
rightful and legitimate place.  The Document also urges the International
Monetary Fund to cease conditioning their loans on pro-cyclical economic
policies which can limit the ability of governments to stimulate their
economies, or provide increased social protections, in times of crisis. It
also urges governments to ensure that the leadership and management of the
Bretton Woods Institutions is determined based on the principles of gender
equality, geographical and regional representation.



An important contribution to the quest for the primacy of human rights was
made by the recognition that countries may need to depart from disciplines
and commitments in international trade, investment and finance in order to,
*inter alia*, address human and social impacts of the crisis and safeguard
progress achieved towards the realization of economic and social rights.
Governments reeling from the impacts of the crisis, for example, were
accepted as being justified in withholding payment of debt, if only
temporarily, to provide fundamental social services.



Along the lines of our Statement, the outcome document also recognized the
special responsibility that developed countries bear in the crisis, while
developing countries who had no responsibility in the making of the crisis
will bear its worst human costs. It also highlighted as a corollary that the
full participation of all countries is necessary in shaping appropriate
responses, and set up a concrete, if limited, follow-up mechanism.



Despite these areas of convergence, many of the issues called upon in our
Collective Statement were left under-addressed in the UN Economic Crisis
Outcome Document. Human rights law and its protection regime is not
mentioned at all in the text, and the duty of States to place people at the
center of economic policy is considered an aspirational goal, rather than as
a positive obligation. The Civil Society
Scorecard<http://tendays.socialwatch.org/?p=491>published by the
Global Social Economy Group rated the outcomes poorly,
particularly for failing to establish a Global Economic Council within the
UN. The outcomes also fail to establish meaningful ways forward to instill
an inclusive form of international economic policy-making, end tax evasion,
to put an end to pro-cyclical loan conditionalities, and to thoroughly
reform the governance of the Bretton Woods Institutions.



Outside of the official outcome document, some individual interventions
touched on issues raised in our Collective Statement. UN Secretary General, Mr.
Ban Ki Moon<http://www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/statements/sg_opening_en.pdf>,
emphasized the need for the international community to support economic and
social rights in the crisis in his opening address. Ms. Navi
Pillay<http://www.unhchr.ch/huricane/huricane.nsf/view01/9A42BB1B8AA9CBF9C12575E600366136?opendocument>,
High Commissioner for Human Rights, urged governments to take a human rights
perspective to the crisis. “Government responses to economic hardship that
do not seek to address such asymmetries of power and status by leveling the
playing field,” she states, “are both short-sighted and unjust.”  UN
Independent Expert on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, Ms. Magdalena
Sepúlveda<http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/poverty/expert/docs/SubmissionGACrisis25062009.pdf>,
focused her statement on the urgent need to create social protection systems
to uphold poor peoples’ livelihoods in this time of crisis and beyond. Mr.
Cephas Lumina<http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/development/debt/docs/GAConferenceFinancialCrisis24Jun09.doc>,
the UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights warned in his
statement that many governments intent on fulfilling their human rights
duties may face stiff challenges due to the economic crisis, and reminded
governments of their shared responsibilities in addressing indebtedness. All
official statements can be found
here<http://www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/stt_day24.shtml>
.



Looking ahead, after hotly contested debates about the Conference’s
follow-up mechanism, governments settled on the creation of an *ad
hoc*open-ended working group, rather than other stronger proposals.
One such
alternative mechanism championed by the UN Commission of
Experts<http://www.un.org/ga/president/63/commission/financial_commission.shtml>is
the creation of a UN Global Economic Council, a representative, expert
body which would monitor and asses the economic crisis and convene Heads of
State yearly to provide leadership in economic, social and ecological
issues. Though far from ideal, this open-ended working group does mean that
these key international discussions aimed at democratizing economic policy
making will continue.



So, for now, there is still much left to do in upholding a human rights
response to the continuing global economic crisis. As always, we very much
look forward to your ideas and contributions on possible future actions.



For a calendar by the Halifax Initiative and Our World Is Not For Sale of
upcoming opportunities to mobilize around these and related issues, visit
here<http://www.escr-net.org/usr_doc/Calendar_of_mobilizations_2009-2010_(2).pdf>.
For any other information, visit us at www.escr-net.org.







 <http://d.yimg.com/kq/groups/16601532/1476745373/name/UNEconCrisisConf_JulyActivityUpdate_final%2Edoc>



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