InBrief | UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

Preliminary conclusions from my recent missions to Lebanon and Nepal
We are hiring:
- Communications Advisor
- Research Assistant (Job Guarantee)
- Consultant (Kyrgyzstan)
- Research Assistant (Kyrgyzstan)
Submit your written input to my next reports:
- Thematic report on the Job Guarantee
- Country mission to Kyrgyzstan
Upcoming and past events

PRELIMINARY CONCLUSIONS FROM COUNTRY MISSIONS

Lebanon is facing compounded economic, financial, public health, and humanitarian crises. My team and I traveled around the country between 1-12 November 2021 to assess the efforts of the Lebanese government to alleviate poverty in the current context. In addition to official meetings with representatives of the government, we met with civil society organizations, experts, international organizations, and communities and families experiencing poverty in Beirut, Tripoli, the Akkar region, and the Bekaa valley. At the end of my visit, I issued a formal statement and presented it at a press conference in Beirut. The official report will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council this June.

Lebanon: UN poverty expert says Government fails population

BEIRUT (12 November 2021) – The Lebanese authorities’ destruction of the national currency, political deadlock, and reinforcement of long-standing inequalities have plunged the country into abject poverty, a UN human rights expert said...

Shortly after returning from Lebanon, my team and I conducted a fact-finding mission to Nepal between 29 November and 9 December 2021. During our time there, we visited Kathmandu and the provinces of Karnali and Lumbini as well as Province 2. We met with a wide range of stakeholders and communities, as well as government officials. Along with the report on Lebanon, my findings will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in June.

Nepal must now deliver on promise of social justice - UN human rights expert

KATHMANDU (9 December 2021) – Nepal has one of the most progressive constitutions in the world, but many of its promises still are to be fulfilled, the UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, Olivier De Schutter, said...

CALLS FOR APPLICATIONS

Communications Advisor

We are hiring a Communications Advisor to develop and drive external communications for the mandate. Key responsibilities include proposing creative communications strategies, initiating and developing relationships with media around the world regions, assisting with writing op-eds, and designing and producing electronic communication materials, press releases, and event planning. We will review applications on a rolling basis until March 1. Learn more.

Part-time Research Assistant (Job Guarantee)

We are looking for a part-time Research Assistant to assist in the preparation of a thematic report focusing on the “Job Guarantee”. This is a 12-week paid position for a graduate student to assist with research on key topics related to public works programmes and proposals for a job guarantee. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis until February 27. Learn more.

Consultant (Kyrgyzstan)

We are looking for a Consultant to support the preparation of a country visit to Kyrgyzstan. This is consultancy position to conduct research on key topics related to poverty, social protection, and employment regulations in Kyrgyzstan. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis until February 27. Learn more.

Part-time Research Assistant (Kyrgyzstan)

We are looking for a part-time Research Assistant to support the preparation of a country visit to Kyrgyzstan. This is a 13-week paid position for a graduate student to assist with research on key topics related to the nature of poverty in Kyrgyzstan. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis until February 27. Learn more.

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Submit your written input to the next thematic report on the Job Guarantee

The report will investigate the role of public works programmes and other public job-guaranteeing schemes to combat unemployment and satisfy societal needs, as well as to contribute to the economic empowerment of women. Deadline is April 1. Learn more.

Submit your written input to the upcoming mission to Kyrgyzstan

The country mission will take place between May 23 and June 3, 2022. The visit will aim at assessing the efforts to combat poverty and to protect the human rights of people in poverty in Kyrgyzstan. Deadline is April 1. Learn more.

UPCOMING AND PAST EVENTS

Upcoming events

25 February 2022. The Special Rapporteur will contribute to the dialogue convened by Belgium and Morocco on “How to Accelerate: Universal Social Protection, Human Rights – and a Global Fund?”. The event will be introduced by H.E. Ms. Meryame Kitir, Minister of Development Cooperation and Urban Policy, Belgium, and by H.E. Mr. Younes Sekkouri Oubbahessou, Minister of Economic Inclusion, Small Business, Employment and Skills, Morocco, and it will serve to identify the relationship of the proposals to establish a Global Fund for Social Protection and the initiative towards a Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection. On 19 June 2021, the International Labour Conference gave a mandate to the International Labour Office to initiate and engage in discussions on concrete proposals for “a new international financing mechanism, such as a Global Social Protection Fund, which could complement and support domestic resource mobilization efforts in order to achieve universal social protection”. Also in June 2021, the Special Rapporteur presented a report to the UN Human Rights Council 47^th session, making the case and providing a roadmap for a Global Fund for Social Protection. In September 2021, as part of the "new social contract anchored in human rights" he proposed in his report "Our Common Agenda", the United Nations Secretary-General referred to the idea of a Global Fund for Social Protection, noting that such a Fund could “support countries in increasing levels of funding devoted to social protection over time.” (p. 28). On 28 September 2021, the Secretary-General and the Director-General of the ILO presented proposals for a Global Accelerator for Jobs and Social Protection, an initiative detailed in the policy brief “Investing in Jobs and Social Protection for Poverty Eradication and a Sustainable Recovery”. The discussion of 25 February will identify synergies and complementarities between the two proposals.

9 March 2022. The Special Rapporteur will hold a virtual stakeholder workshop, inviting more than 400 organizations that completed the worldwide survey on the non-take-up of rights in preparation for the next thematic report. The workshop will serve to present the initial findings of the survey and to gather feedback from respondents on preliminary conclusions.

Past events

18 January 2022. Keynote address to the high-level event “Building Forward Better: Reaffirming the Sustainable Recovery Pledge and taking stock of commitments”. Organized by the Danish Institute for Human Rights, the event took stock of the progress achieved around the Sustainable Recovery Pledge that was launched in June 2021 in conjunction with the 47^th session of the Human Rights Council. Signatories to the pledge expressed their commitment to a COVID-19 recovery strategy aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Paris agreement, grounded in human rights.

2 February 2022. The Special Rapporteur delivered the keynote remarks at the dialogue co-organized by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS) and the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), on Europe’s role in advancing Human Rights. A report will soon be released to summarize the key recommendations that emerged from that and other expert dialogues focused on “Strengthening the Voice of Europe at the United Nations”.

9 February 2022. The Special Rapporteur delivered the keynote address to the Civil Society Forum’s thematic debate on the post-Covid recovery, titled “Setting the Stage: A global overview on poverty, human dignity and wellbeing”, organized by the NGO Committee for Social Development. The whole session was live on UN Web TV and can be found here.

10 February 2022. The Special Rapporteur delivered the opening remarks to the event of the European Network of National Human Rights Institutions (ENNHRI) on a rights-based approach to guaranteeing social protection and a “just transition”.

11 February 2022. Along with ATD Fourth World, the mandate of the Special Rapporteur co-organized a side event at the 60^th session of the Commission for Social Development, entitled “Dignity for all in practice: overcoming poverty-based discrimination”. The event discussed the contribution of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of socio-economic disadvantage to the fight against poverty.