By Pradeep Baisakh
New York : As world leaders meet at the UN Summit of the Future on 22-23 September to forge a new international consensus, civil society groups and people’s leaders representing some of the world’s most marginalized communities are uniting across from UN headquarters for a Global People’s Assembly to demand meaningful changes that address the root causes of global injustice and solutions that prioritize the needs and rights of those left behind.
More than 400 activists are expected to participate in the fifth edition of the Global People’s Assembly, which is the culmination of 30 regional and constituency-level gatherings, national-level assemblies and thousands of community actions around the world.
“Whenever I try to build a hut, the police evict and harass us,” Laxman Gadia told one of the people’s assemblies held in the build up to the UN summit and the Global People’s Assembly. “Despite my hard work, I cannot earn more than 100 rupees (US$1.20) daily. I struggle to provide basic necessities for my family, let alone quality education or health care for my children.”
A member of the nomadic indigenous Gadia Lohar (blacksmith) community in Rajasthan, India, Laxman says he feels targeted and “left behind” because of his caste. His plight is, unfortunately, not unique.
A Global Emergency
More than one billion people, half of whom are children, live in multidimensional poverty and unless deep-seated systemic barriers — such as discrimination and unequal political participation — are measured and addressed, the gap between those who are progressing and those left behind is expected to grow further.
Recognizing the urgency of this challenge, the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is organizing a three-day Global People’s Assembly from 22-24 September. In cooperation with 52 civil society organizations and networks — including Oxfam International, Forus, CIVICUS, Action for Sustainable Development, and the Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors — the assembly will present actionable solutions to the ongoing man-made crises afflicting the planet and advocate for sustainable, people-centered approaches to global governance.
“The latest draft of the Pact for the Future, which world leaders are expected to adopt at the Summit of the Future this week, is not nearly ambitious enough,” says WECF International executive director Sascha Gabizon. “It relies on the same institutions that have failed us for decades.”
Set against this backdrop of rising inequalities, exploitation and systematic rights violations, the 2024 Global People’s Assembly will address economic and social justice, debt justice, social protection, human rights, the feminist economy and climate financing, particularly as these issues impact the lives of marginalized communities struggling to overcome barriers to development.
Crushing Debt
One of the most pressing challenges facing Latin American, African and Asian nations is a worsening debt situation that has been exacerbated by COVID-19 pandemic expenditures, the war in Ukraine and the climate emergency. In many countries, more than 30% and sometimes even 50% of the budget is spent for debt servicing – often more than for health and education together. The UN organisation for Trade and Development, UNCTAD, notes that indebted countries often lack adequate representation in multilateral institutions dealing with debt-related issues.
“Debt burdens block people’s right to development,” explains Mae Buenaventura of the Asian People’s Movement on Debt and Development. “Current relief measures are woefully inadequate. Much of this debt is illegitimate, contracted without public consultation, and has led to displaced communities and destroyed livelihoods. We demand its immediate and unconditional cancellation.”
Currency devaluations have raised the cost of servicing external debt, in many instances, while governments have been forced by conditionalities imposed by international institutions to implement austerity measures and cut spending on health, education and social protection.
“The global financial architecture, driven by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, fails to provide adequate social protection for people living in poverty, even though social protection is a basic human right,” says GCAP global co-chair Arjun Bhattarai.
The international community backed Universal Social Protection Floors (SDG 1.3) when it endorsed he Sustainable Development Goals. This promise must be transformed into action. Urgent changes to the international financial architecture is required to provide resources to fund universal social protection, health and education.
“What’s truly needed is action to reduce the debt burden on Global South countries. When half of a state’s budget goes to debt payments, it cannot invest in the care economy,” adds Gabizon, who explains that debt justice must be addressed in order to advance gender equality.
“The UN Pact of the Future needs to have a feminist-economics perspective and it must include global tax reform to end tax evasion and make the super-rich pay their fair share to support Agenda 2030,” she says.
Conflict, Climate & Accountability
The 2024 Global People’s Assembly will also draw attention to the domino effects of ongoing global conflicts and the climate crisis. Nearly a dozen countries and territories — including Ukraine, Palestine, Myanmar, Haiti, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo — face extreme conflicts, while flooding, drought and heat waves resulting from man-made climate change exacerbate poverty and inequalities.
Urgent international cooperation is needed to address the root causes of conflict and to ensure that development efforts can thrive in a world free from violence and instability.
Financial targets to support developing countries in their climate actions post-2025 — known as the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), within the context of the Paris climate agreement — must also be adopted.
“Climate justice is central to any discussion on justice,” says Pan African Climate Justice Alliance executive director Dr. Mithika Mwenda. “We cannot achieve economic justice if wealthy nations refuse to commit to a NCQG on climate finance. Frontline communities need this support to adapt and protect their fragile livelihoods.”
A growing wave of anti-NGO laws and harassment threaten the ability of civil society organizations, though, to advocate for reforms like these. People in nearly 120 countries face civic space restrictions, due to military coups and other forms of repression.
“Every attack on civil society is an attempt to suffocate people’s voices and a direct challenge to the fundamental rights of all,” warns Forus International director Sarah Strack. “At the Summit of the Future, it’s time to unite to demand accountability from those who seek to silence us and to reaffirm our commitment to justice, equality, and the power of collective action.”