Our contribution to the report “Development Finance Institutions and Human Rights"

GI-ESCR and partners make a joint submission to the Working Group on the issue of Human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.

The Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), the Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER Uganda), Campaña Latinoamericana por el Derecho a la Educación-CLADE, East African Centre for Human Rights (EACHRights, Kenya), Oxfam International, Right to Education Initiative (RTE) and the World Organization for Early Childhood Education-OMEP welcomed the opportunity to contribute to Working Group's report, “Development Finance Institutions and Human Rights”. The report will be presented by the Working Group to the Human Rights Council at its 53rd session, in June 2023. It aims to examine the responsibility of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) to respect human rights in line with the U.N. Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). 

The joint submission is aligned with GI-ESCR's advocacy efforts towards U.N. special procedures to continuously strengthen public education and human rights standards. The joint submission answered question 8 of the questionnaire which addresses the specific human rights risks posed by DFI-related financing practices to the groups in the most vulnerable situations. It highlighted the evidence, concerns, and lessons around investments in the area of education by DFIs. It also sought to emphasise the negative impact of commercial and profit-oriented private schools and the human rights risks posed by financing these types of institutions particularly on the most vulnerable populations.