Chile’s constitutional process
We identify opportunities at the domestic level to support legal advocacy and empower local actors, to promote economic, social and cultural rights’ recognition, monitoring and accountability. In Chile, we push for a rights respecting, gender inclusive and post-neoliberal agenda in the constitutional process
Advocating for international economic, social and cultural rights standards in the Constitution In October 2019, a social uprising led to the first democratic constitutional drafting process in Chile, a country shaped by a dictatorship inspired by neoliberalism. The Constitutional Convention established in 2021 offered the ideal opportunity to develop and apply a progressive conception of economic, social and cultural rights, including standards on gender equality, public services and fiscal policy.
Before the Constitutional Convention was inaugurated, GI-ESCR was already working with partners to provide expertise on international economic, social and cultural rights standards, acting as a bridge for organisations and academics abroad who want to contribute to Chile’s reform process. We pushed stakeholders involved in the constitutional debate to affirm the widest possible protection of economic, social, cultural and environmental rights and adopt a post-neoliberal framework that promotes social and economic policies respectful of human rights. Together with partners, we also connected the discussion in Chile with regional and international debates on economic justice and inequality. Since the constitutional process is taking place in a period when global inequality has reached alarming levels and climate change threatens social and economic breakdown, we encouraged an exchange of experiences. Creative and forward-thinking standard-setting and rights-based approaches to economic and social policy can open the door to new ways of realising economic, social and cultural rights in practice. We have played a critical role in creating and strengthening civil society’s capacity to understand and address economic, social and cultural rights, given that no specialised organisation in Chile was working on the whole range of rights and economic issues. Our expertise and work have been recognised, and GI-ESCR has emerged as a legitimate actor in the NGO ecosystem in Chile that is active in the constitutional process on socioeconomic rights. In 2021 we strengthened our presence in Chile to meet the expectations and commitments of our partners. We have continued to develop tools to promote the inclusion of progressive standards on economic, social and cultural rights in the new Constitution. For example, our report Compromiso por el Habitar en Dignidad (‘Commitment to Live in Dignity’), which a range of national organisations have endorsed, lays out principles and standards that should guide the incorporation of the right to housing in the new Constitution. Our reports have been widely distributed by political and social movements, disseminated on social media, discussed in national media, and delivered to members of the Constitutional Assembly.
Empowering local organisations’ advocacy agenda
One of the Constitutional Convention’s main challenges has been to meet society’s desire to participate and be included. Recognising that participatory fora were lacking, with Fundación Ciudadanía Inteligente and other local partners we designed, developed and launched La Constitución es Nuestra (‘It’s Our Constitution’), a digital platform that links civil society and the Constitutional Convention by creating and supporting constitutional proposals. Over fifty civil society organisations joined the platform and have been able to highlight their demands. La Constitución es Nuestra has made an important contribution to democratising Chile’s constitutional reform process
‘Más que Juanitas’’
Concerned that the Constitutional Convention might not be able to translate women’s longstanding demands for rights into norms, we brought together 26 feminist organisations from across the country to share their experiences and demands for economic, social and cultural rights. We examined those demands in Más que Juanitas (see Stories of Impacts section). This report makes specific recommendations on how the new Constitution might incorporate women’s demands. Launched in the presence of civil society organisations, members of the Constitutional Convention and academics, it is a go-to resource on issues the new Constitution must address to promote gender equality and protect women’s economic, social and cultural rights. Drawing on past contributions and other contributions we will continue to receive, we have created a digital archive that substantiates the experience of women’s unequal access to economic, social, cultural and environmental rights in Chile.
Connecting national and global economic, social and cultural rights debates
GI-ESCR has also connected discussions in Chile with international debates on economic justice and inequality. We developed local–international dialogue spaces. For example, we convened debates between Chilean actors and the alliances that promote and advocate for the Principles for Human Rights in Fiscal Policy, and for the Abidjan Principles on Human Rights Obligations of States to Provide Public Education and to Regulate Private Involvement in Education. To bring Chilean issues to the attention of women organising for economic justice, we actively participated in international fora, such as the International Association for Feminist Economics. Together with academic partners, we brought together the reflections of more than fifty domestic and international scholars, practitioners and policy makers in the book ‘Social Rights and the Constitutional Moment: Learning from Chile and International Experiences’ (Bloomsbury). This collection of 32 essays has proved to be a useful tool for members of the Constitutional Convention and those who want to influence its work.
Public services and fiscal policy
GI-ESCR has facilitated cross-movement alliances of progressive actors to advance the public services and tax justice agenda in the context of constitutional reform. In doing so, we have made links with Public Service International and key national trade unions to challenge the neoliberal paradigm of privatised, underfinanced and market-driven public services reliant on lean fiscal policies that do not comply with human rights standards. Together with this broad coalition of unions and civil society actors, we developed a constitutional proposal that establishes progressive and innovative standards for public services and fiscal policy in Chile’s new Constitution. The proposal has been introduced as a public norm initiative (a direct democracy mechanism within the Convention) and has been shared with members of the Constitutional Convention
