GI-ESCR participated in the 50th regular session of the Human Rights Council. The council took place from 13 June - 8 July 2022 in Geneva. The session covered several crucial topics for GI-ESCR. For this reason we have followed several debates, negotiations and mandates. Moreover, we delivered 5 statements and organised 3 side events in light of the council.

Mandates & Debates

On Climate Change

During the 50th session, the newly elected UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, presented his first report outlining his plans for the mandate which was followed by an interactive dialogue with States and civil society. As a member of the Geneva Climate Change Consultation Group and the Human Rights and Climate Change Working Group, we were amongst the first three NGOs to deliver an oral statement to the Special Rapporteur, once more showing our support for this important mandate for which we have advocated for the past years.

In light of UN resolution 47/24, the HRC held a specific panel on the impact of climate change on people in vulnerable situations, based on the report published by OHCHR on the topic to which GI-ESCR has submitted a written contribution back in December 2021. We actively followed the debate, keeping close track of States’ comments and questions on the report for further engagement.

On the right to education

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Koumbou Boly Barry, presented her annual thematic report on the digitalisation of education to the council in which she highlights the challenges that digitalisation poses to the respect, protection and fulfilment of the human right. In support of her report, GI-ESCR delivered an oral statement, highlighting the threat of increased commercialisation of education through private actors engaged in digital education.

On the right to health

The UN Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, Tlaleng Mofokeng, presented her annual thematic report on violence against women, its causes and consequences on the right to health. In light of the report, GI-ESCR presented an oral statement in which we highlight that governments must invest in strong, high-quality, public healthcare systems and provide sufficient resources to allow victims, as well as perpetrators, to receive a comprehensive set of healthcare and social services, including mental health assistance, to end cycles of violence.

On care

In light of the annual discussion on women’s human rights, the council held its afternoon panel on the topic of human rights-based and gender-responsive care and support systems.  As the first NGO to speak on the panel discussion, GI-ESCR took the opportunity to raise the issue of decades of how privatisation of care and support services has further entrenched gender inequality and global economic inequality. We also urged States to use a human rights-centred approach in the organisation of care and support systems.

On the council’s commemoration of the 50th session

In commemoration of its 50th session, the Human Rights Council decided to organise an event highlighting the achievements and challenges of the council in the past 17 years and its future outlook. Though we were unfortunately not able to deliver an oral statement to the session due to time constraints, we submitted our statement to the council. In the statement, we highlighted the role the council has played in the strengthening of economic, social, and cultural rights through resolutions and the establishment of special procedures. At the same time, we raised our concerns about the commercialisation of public services and green transition efforts that don’t center human rights in climate action.

Resolutions

Resolution on climate change

The yearly resolution on climate change was presented by the core group of Viet Nam, Philippines, and Bangladesh. This year, the resolution focused specifically on the right to food in the context of climate change. GI-ESCR actively followed the negotiations and provided input into the draft text, in close collaboration with the Geneva Climate Change Consultation Group.

However, we remain concerned about the unwillingness of the core group to take up any language suggestions presented by civil society to the group. Even simple suggestions that were in line with the consensus in the room were not taken up in further drafts of the resolutions. Moreover, we are concerned about the operational paragraph 18 requesting action from the independent UN Special Rapporteur on climate change and the absence of any reference to the newly acknowledged human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

The resolution was adopted without a vote. Click here to read it.

Resolution on the right to health

This year’s resolution tabled as “Access to medicines, vaccines and other health products in the context of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health” was headed by Brazil, China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Senegal, South Africa, and Thailand. The resolution’s novelty is the adding of health products to the list of services and products to be offered to guarantee the right to health while calling for a flexible application of the TRIPS Agreement. As GI-ESCR. we have been pushing for a more inclusive language on women and girls and to include language around public services, including health services within the resolution.

The resolution was adopted without a vote. Click here to read it.

Resolution on the elimination of all discrimination against women and girls

This annual resolution was tabled by Mexico, Argentina, and Chile and had a strong focus on the participation of women and girls this year. The resolution faced strong resistance from some countries, namely Nigeria, Egypt, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Mauritania, with 10 tabled amendments to the resolution and 10 informal consultations necessary to finalise the resolution. GI-ESCR promoted more language around the climate crisis and the inclusion of indigenous women in the resolution.

The resolution was adopted without a vote. All amendments were rejected by vote. Click here to read the resolution

Side Events

GI-ESCR organised three side events at this 50th HRC session.

On a gender-just green transition

GI-ESCR, in co-sponsorship with the Geneva Climate Change consultation group (GeCCco) and International Women's Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific (IWRAW-AP), organized an online event called “Leading the Way towards a Just Green Transition: Using Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as a Guiding Compass”. The discussion was led by Astrid Puentes, independent expert on climate change, Rodrigo Echecopar, Strategy and Advocacy Director at GI-ESCR, Natalia Gomez Peña, climate change policy adviser at Earth Rights International, and Kayinga Muddu Yisito, Network Coordinator of Community Transformation Foundation Network (COTFONE).

For more information on the session, click here.

On gender-transformative public services

In light of Public Services Day during HRC50, GI-ESCR, in collaboration with Public Services International, organised a side event called “From gender-responsive to gender-transformative public services. Public services as a tool to promote gender equality”. The session was led by Rossella Falco, GI-ESCR’s Programme Officer on the right to health, Corina Rodríguez, member of the executive committee of Development Alternatives with Women for a New Era (DAWN), Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary of Public Services International (PSI), and Chenai Mukumba, Policy Research and Advocacy Manager at Tax Justice Network Africa
For more information on the session, click here.

On Public Services Delivery

GI-ESCR was invited to join a panel organised by the Permanent Missions of Azerbaijan and Malaysia on Public Services Delivery and Human Rights: Advancing Towards the Sustainable Development Goals. The event was held in collaboration with the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR). Ashnia Mtsumi, GI-ESCR’s Programme Officer on Public Services and Africa Representative focused her intervention on how commercialisation of public services eroded their capacity to serve everyone, especially marginalised and vulnerable groups. She also highlighted how the climate crisis and the COVID pandemic have emphasised the flaws with this approach and the urgent imperative to reclaim and reinvest in publicly governed and financed public services for the realisation of human rights and for resilient, just societies able to respond to the crises.

Learn more about this session here.

On Chile’s Constitutional Process

In light of the publication of the final draft of the new Chilean constitution, GI-ESCR, in collaboration with the Geneva Academy, organised a side event called “Economic, social, and environmental rights in Chile’s constitutional process”. The event was led by Dr. Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, GI-ESCR’s Executive Director, Dr. Christophe Golay, Senior Research Fellow and Strategic Adviser on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights at the Geneva Academy., Dr. Javier Couso, Professor of Law at the Universidad Diego Portales in Santiago, Chile, and Professor of Global Trends in Constitutionalism at the University of Utrecht, Netherlands, Dr. Koldo Casla, Lecturer in Law and the Director of the Human Rights Centre Clinic, University of Essex (UK)., and MSc Valentina Contreras, Representative in Chile of the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

For more information on the session, click here.