Special Report by WFUNA: Human Rights Responses to the Global Economic and Financial Crisis

During the 4th day of the 13th Session of the Human Rights Council (HRC), the Centre for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) and ESCR-Net held a side-event dedicated to the impact of the global economic and financial crisis on the realization of human rights.

Panelists discussed how human rights obligations can and should influence responses to the financial and economic crisis. At the forefront was the question of the role of the Human Rights Council in the follow-up of the UN Conference of the World Financial and Economic Crisisright to development (mainly through its commitment to contribute to the Open-Ended Working Group of the UN General Assembly).  and of the impact of the crises on the

Participants proposed a number of views and recommendations to both the international community and the HRC. Some attendees recommend to continue to review and analyze the impacts of the financial and economic crisis on human rights, incorporating broad civil society participation, at the HRC's next session; to strengthen the capacity of human rights institutions at regional and global levels to effectively monitor the impact of the global financial crisis on human rights; to engage in policy dialogue with organizations holding economic policy mandates; and to appoint representatives from inter-governmental organizations with a human rights mandate to the ECOSOC panel of experts on the world financial crisis once this body is established. Read more here.