During the UN Civil Society Conference (UNCSC) in Nairobi from May 9-11, 2024, civil society organizations from around the world united to challenge corporate capture and advocate for a transformative "Pact for the Future" ahead of the Summit of the Future hosted by the United Nations General Assembly in September 2024.
CESR co-organized and participated in several events, both in parallel civil society meetings and the official UNCSC agenda. Among them:
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The Progressive CSOs Pre-Meeting, where CESR collaborated with leading civil society organizations to strategize a popular campaign on economic justice and reform of the international financial architecture.
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The Workshop: A Summit Towards a Future For All, focused on producing a collective strategy to influence stakeholders and shape the "Pact for the Future" outcome document.
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The Economic Justice Campaign Strategy and Planning Meeting, aimed at joint strategizing for a broader economic justice campaign, including gender-responsive taxation and transformative financing for development.
During these sessions, we highlighted the need for fiscal justice to be included as a guiding principle in Global Economic Governance reform, and particularly for including human rights in the upcoming United Nations Framework Tax Convention.
One key meeting during the Conference was the ImPACT Coalition’s session on International Financial Architecture Reform and Financing for Development (IFA-FfD). Speakers included Moussa Mara (former Prime Minister of Mali), Francesca Mancarella (World Farmers’ Organisation), Nathalie Samarasinghe (Open Society Foundations), and Vitória Gonzalez, (Plataforma CIPÓ), and our Executive Director, Dr. Maria Ron Balsera.
In her intervention, Maria emphasized the urgent need to address global challenges such as climate change, inequality, and debt burdens, which disproportionately impact lower-income countries.
“Debt repayment should not trump human rights”, stated Maria Ron Balsera at the UN CSC in Nairobi.
Civil society members also criticized the draft zero of the Pact for the Future shared during the meetings, as it lacked a gender justice perspective and omitted crucial elements like care. As preparations for the Summit of the Future continue, we will keep working with our partners and allies to highlight the importance of reshaping the global financial architecture to guarantee human rights.
