Reaffirm our shared commitment to universal human rights by UN Human Rights Special Procedures mandate holders   Mar. 2026   UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk at 61st session of the UN Human Rights Council:   "Inequality is the quiet force deciding the fate of millions. It dictates who eats, who learns, who gets housing and healthcare – and who does not.   Around the world, one in four people face food insecurity, and one in three lack adequate housing.   Over half the world’s population work in the informal economy, without access to paid sick leave, maternity leave, or other forms of social protection. This is particularly true for women. Nearly 60 percent of employed women work in the informal economy.   The 2030 Agenda is alarmingly off track, with many goals now slipping into reverse. Severe cuts in international development aid are projected to lead to more than 22 million avoidable deaths by 2030.   Faced with these realities, people — especially young people — have taken to the streets to demand their rights to work, to health, to education, and to be free from corruption. They are calling for economic systems that are fair, transparent, and accountable.   Their frustration reflects deep structural failures in the global economy, which continue to deepen inequalities within and between countries.   In 2024, developing countries paid a record 415 billion US dollars in interest, more than double what they paid a decade earlier.   Interest payments trap states in a spiral of under-development and shrink the resources available for health, education, social security, and other economic and social rights.   Many developing countries face the worst climate impacts despite contributing least to the crisis. Yet, those labelled as middle-income economies – including most small island developing states - are denied the concessional financing needed for climate adaptation and recovery.   Low-income countries often receive inadequate levels of debt relief, grants and concession-based finance that they desperately need.   Meanwhile, some of the richest countries under-invest in economic, social and cultural rights. Their tax systems reward the wealthy while failing to protect those who struggle.   Over the past 20 years, the richest one percent have captured 41 percent of all new wealth, while the bottom 50 percent receive just 1 percent. Last year alone, billionaires amassed enough wealth to eliminate extreme poverty twenty-six times over.   The consequences of deep inequalities within countries are devastating. Poverty, unemployment, and the lack of social protection, combined with limited pathways for safe migration, make people vulnerable to brutal exploitation. A recent report by my Office highlighted grave abuses against people trafficked into scam centres across several regions.   Commitments on financing for development need to be backed by action to enable countries to access the resources needed for sustainable development.   Reform of the international financial architecture, including debt restructuring is needed. Debt servicing must not compromise a State’s international human rights obligations.   States and international financial institutions need to integrate human rights impact assessments systematically into their decisions on debt, in order to safeguard the fiscal space needed to realize the rights to health, education, a healthy environment, and social protection, among others.   States also need to ensure that debt frameworks are transparent, and that people can participate in decisions about public finances. This can lead to more equitable budget choices and increase trust in government. Stronger representation of developing countries in international decision-making is also crucial.   Second, moving beyond gross domestic product as the main metric for progress. The measure of development should not be more money; it is whether the economy is improving people’s wellbeing. Metrics should also track whether economic benefits are shared equitably across society.   Economic indicators should capture positive contributions to society – including the unpaid care work largely done by women, and the value added by the informal economy. And they should exclude economic activities that are harmful to human rights, such as burning fossil fuels.   Realising universal social protection. Broader access to social security is a matter of justice, and it fosters social cohesion. I encourage all States to promote universal and legally protected social protection floors.   It is critical to expand resources for States on the frontlines of environmental damage. In an advisory opinion last year, the International Court of Justice stressed that international cooperation around climate change is a legal obligation. This includes providing enough financial support for climate action.   We cannot accept a future where a few thrive while billions are left behind. Together, we can build economies that deliver for everyone, and that make equality and justice the measure of our progress".   http://www.neep-poverty.org/news/interview-global-economy-must-stop-pandering-to-frivolous-desires-of-ultra-rich-says-un-expert http://www.neep-poverty.org/joint-policy-briefs/ http://www.srpoverty.org/2026/01/27/time-opinion-economic-growth-at-any-cost-fails-us-all/ http://www.neep-poverty.org/   Dec. 2025   Mar. 2026   Putting people before balance sheets: UN expert calls for rights‑centered global financial reform. (OHCHR)   The UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Attiya Waris, has urged Member States to fundamentally reorient international assistance and cooperation toward fiscal legitimacy, stressing that global financial governance must serve people and their rights and not merely economic indicators.   International assistance is a legal obligation, not an act of charity, and it must be grounded in legality, transparency, accountability, efficiency, effectiveness, fairness and justice,” Waris said, presenting her latest report to the UN Human Rights Council.   “Failures in global tax governance, escalating sovereign debt burdens, and unchecked illicit financial flows are eroding States’ ability to uphold minimum essential levels of economic, social, and cultural rights,” she warned.   Emphasising the need for urgent reform, the expert called for a UN Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation to ensure equitable global tax rules, rights‑based sovereign debt mechanisms that guarantee timely, inclusive, and human‑rights‑consistent restructuring and robust international action to curb illicit financial flows draining resources from countries least able to absorb the loss.   She also urged International Financial Institutions to realign voting power, expand grant‑based financing, and embed human rights impact assessments into their programmes.   “The current global financial architecture, shaped by historical inequities, too often extracts resources rather than enabling rights,” Waris said. “Transformational change is essential to place dignity, equity, and human rights at the centre of global economic governance.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/03/putting-people-balance-sheets-un-expert-calls-rights-centered-global   UN human rights experts call for safeguarding the UN Special Procedures system as ‘indispensable pillar’ for human rights protection.   Amid rising authoritarianism, deepening polarisation, growing intolerance, and mounting pressures on the multilateral system, Human Rights Day offers a vital moment to reaffirm our shared commitment to universal human rights, UN experts said today.   They issued a joint statement renewing their unwavering dedication to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and emphasising the urgent need for a strong, independent, and properly resourced human rights system — one capable of safeguarding dignity, justice, and equality for all.   “Standing firmly by the promise of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, even as the multilateral order and the global human rights ecosystem face an unprecedented and existential threat, we recommit to upholding our independence as a human rights mechanism and responding to the calls and expectations of victims, survivors and all those in need.   We will continue to call for the full implementation of human rights standards and provide dedicated technical advice, grounding our work in the principles of international human rights law.   We endeavour to keep promoting positive change in people’s lives by discharging our prevention and protection mandates.   We will remain steadfast in our advocacy for stronger protection of human rights, the rule of law and democratic processes around the world. We will continue to proclaim inconvenient truths.   Over the decades, UN leaders have repeatedly affirmed the system’s significance and power. In 2006, Secretary-General Kofi Annan hailed Special Procedures as the “crown jewel” of the international human rights system. His successor, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, described Special Procedures experts as the Council’s indispensable “eyes and ears,” essential for exposing violations and insisted that they must be allowed to work unhindered.   Former High Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour famously characterised Special Procedures as the UN’s frontline human rights defenders — the system’s early warning and protection mechanism in action.   This mechanism has grown into a dynamic system, with committed independent experts working on a vast range of thematic and country situations.   Special Procedures mandate holders have carried out their duties with courage, impartiality and unwavering dedication — often at great personal cost — at a time when many human rights voices are being intimidated into silence. Their impact has reverberated despite severely limited capacity and resources.   As the United Nations and the Human Rights Council undergo critical moments of reform and reflection, we emphasise that these processes must create more, not fewer spaces for dialogue. Human rights protection is indispensable for peace, security and sustainable development.   We call on Member States to resist all attempts to dilute or sideline the Human Rights Council’s Special Procedures system. States and all relevant actors must act now to protect and reinforce Special Procedures as an indispensable pillar through which human rights concerns are heard.   As independent voices, we are able to defend all human rights, everywhere, even in the face of personal attacks, threats and sanctions.   On Human Rights Day, we pledge to victims across the world that we will remain your voices and your advocates – even when it seems that the world has turned away.”   http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2025/12/un-experts-call-safeguarding-special-procedures-system http://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/statements/20251209-stm-sps-en.pdf http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/02/high-commissioner-turk-we-cannot-afford-human-rights-system-crisis http://www.ohchr.org/en/stories/2026/03/world-upside-down-our-choices-our-voices-our-votes-determine-what-comes-next http://www.hrw.org/news/2026/02/13/un-financial-crisis-threatens-to-halt-human-rights-work http://ishr.ch/latest-updates/efficiency-must-not-mean-doing-less-civil-societys-call-to-safeguard-the-human-rights-council/ http://ishr.ch/latest-updates/40-states-warn-protect-un-human-rights-pillar-from-devastating-funding-cuts/ http://ishr.ch/latest-updates/joint-civil-society-statement-on-outcomes-of-the-unga-80-third-committee/ http://www.fian.org/en/on-the-international-human-rights-day-we-demand-a-transformation-of-the-un-that-strengthens-accountability-and-serves-peoples-not-budgets/ Visit the related web page
	Harmful information is putting lives at risk during crises by International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC)   Mar. 2026   Harmful information is undermining life-saving humanitarian action at a time when disasters are affecting more people, more often, according to the World Disasters Report 2026, released by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC).   Between 2020 and 2024, disasters affected nearly 700 million people, caused more than 105 million displacements, and claimed over 270,000 lives – with the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance more than doubling (INFORM Severity index).   The World Disasters Report 2026 warns that harmful information and dehumanising narratives are increasingly undermining trust, putting the lives of humanitarian workers and communities at risk.   In polarized and politically charged contexts, humanitarian principles such as neutrality and impartiality are increasingly misunderstood, misrepresented or deliberately attacked online.   Drawing on evidence from crises across the world, the report emphasises that trust has become one of the most critical, and fragile, assets in humanitarian action.   Jagan Chapagain, IFRC Secretary General, said:   “In every crisis I have witnessed, information is as essential as food, water and shelter. But when information is false, misleading or deliberately manipulated, it can deepen fear, obstruct humanitarian access and cost lives.”   Global examples of harmful information in action:   Spain: During floods in Valencia, false narratives online accused the Spanish Red Cross of diverting aid to migrants, fuelling xenophobic attacks on volunteers.   South Sudan: Rumours that humanitarian agencies were distributing poisoned food caused people to avoid life-saving aid and led to threats against local Red Cross staff, temporarily disrupting operations.   Lebanon: Overlapping crises saw false claims that volunteers were spreading COVID-19, favouring certain groups in aid distribution, or providing unsafe cholera vaccines, eroding trust and endangering vulnerable communities.   Bangladesh: Despite delivering first aid and assistance across multiple districts during a period of political unrest, volunteers faced widespread accusations of inaction and political alignment, leading to harassment and long-term reputational damage.   The report highlights that around 94 per cent of disasters are managed by national authorities and local communities without international assistance. However, while volunteers, local leaders and community media are often the most trusted messengers, they operate in increasingly hostile and polarised information environments.   Mr. Chapagain added: “Without trust, people are less likely to prepare, seek help or follow life-saving guidance; with it, communities act together, absorb shocks and recover more effectively. Maintaining trust is not optional – it is a humanitarian necessity.”   The World Disasters Report 2026 calls on governments, technology companies, humanitarian agencies, communities and local actors to recognise that trustworthy information is a matter of life and death. Recommendations include:   Technology platforms: Prioritise authoritative information from trusted humanitarian, health and local actors in crisis contexts. Provide low-bandwidth, multilingual, and locally relevant tools and transparently moderate harmful content.   States and policymakers: Invest in evidence-based regulation and support local data systems that monitor crises and harmful information, strengthening transparency, accountability and an environment that enables principled humanitarian action.   Humanitarian agencies: Embed harmful information preparedness into humanitarian operations as a core function, with trained teams, standardised tools, predictive analytics, and strong community engagement to anticipate, detect, and respond to harmful narratives.   Communities and local actors: Act as trusted messengers, support digital and media literacy, participate in rumour tracking, and ensure local perspectives shape responses to safeguard access and trust – recognising that communities are central to the solution.   The World Disaster Report 2026 is available to policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and the public, providing a roadmap for building resilience to harmful information before, during, and after crises.   http://www.ifrc.org/press-release/ifrc-warns-harmful-information-putting-lives-risk-during-crises Visit the related web page
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