After CESR and allies urged the Committee to champion tax justice as a human rights imperative, the UN entity explained in detail the importance of fair and inclusive taxation for the realization of social rights.
Today, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (CESCR) issued a historic statement on tax policy. The statement recognizes that taxation is key for rights realization, and stresses States duty to combat inequalities via tax policies (both domestic and international). It touches on key CESR’s advocacy demands, such as the human rights responsibilities of international financial institutions, and the inseparable connection between taxation and gender justice.
The statement also notes the relevance of the Framework Convention on Tax Cooperation being negotiated at the United Nations, and welcomes that the conventions' terms of reference explicitly call for the Convention’s alignment with international human rights law.
Fiscal policy has long been a key concern of the Committee, which regularly presses States to align their tax systems with their obligations under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR). Yet, with global economic inequalities worsening and the UN now negotiating a Framework Convention on International Tax Cooperation, we face a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to ensure that human rights principles shape the future of international tax governance.
A formal statement from the CESCR is a game-changer—setting a new standard for governments worldwide and ensuring that human rights concerns are not sidelined in global tax negotiations. Without this guidance, fiscal policies will remain skewed toward economic efficiency at the expense of social justice and equality.
The statement was published shortly after our Director of Program, Marianna Leite, addressed CESCR during the Committee’s civil society meeting on February 28. Speaking on behalf of CESR, the Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (GI-ESCR), and Tax Justice Network (TJN), she urged the Committee to issue a formal UN statement on taxation and human rights.
CESR, along with our partners in the Initiative for Human Rights in Fiscal policy, have been arguing for such a declaration for over a year. The statement comes after decades-long engagement of CESR with the Committee on fiscal policy issues.
Marianna emphasized that tax policies are essential for tackling poverty, redistributing wealth, and addressing historical injustices rooted in slavery, colonialism, and apartheid. She highlighted the 5Rs framework—revenue, redistribution, repricing, representation, and reparations—as a way to rethink taxation through a rights-based lens. She also stressed that the Committee must counter the colonial extractive model that continues to drain resources from the Global South, limiting the fiscal space needed to fund essential public services.
