Report on the Current global financial crisis on people living in extreme poverty and the enjoyment of their human rights

On February 20, 2009 the independent expert on the question of human rights and extreme poverty, Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona, presented the report at the 10th special session of the Human Rights Council.  The report addresses the impact of the current global financial crisis on people living in extreme poverty and the enjoyment of their human rights. It stresses that the crisis offers an opportunity to move beyond the restructuring of the global financial and monetary systems and to place people at the centre of policy measures by enhancing social protection systems from a human rights-based approach. The report describes how human rights standards provide a normative framework for the adoption of social protection measures and provide guidance for their design, implementation and evaluation. Beyond reaffirming political will to rescue economies, the report urges the international community to take action and mobilize support in order to ensure that those who continue to suffer the most acute consequences of economic crises are protected and supported through the adoption and strengthening of social protection systems.

*Magdalena Sepúlveda Carmona is a research fellow of SERP.