The UN Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky [official profile] presented reports [press release] to the UN Human Rights Council Tuesday finding that economic inequality has a negative impact on financial crises and undermines human rights efforts. The first report [text, PDF] focused on these topics and found a somewhat circular pattern, finding that economic inequality can contribute to financial crises but the measures taken to handle a crisis may enhance the inequality. It was also found that these situations can lead to a negative impact on human rights. The second [text, PDF] was the “Final study on illicit financial flows, human rights and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights.” Bohoslavsky stated, “[c]ombating tax abuse, and illicit financial flows more broadly, is essential to make better progress in realizing international human rights obligations.”

Earlier this month JURIST guest columnist Dimitrina Petrova [official profile], the Equal Rights Trust [official website] executive director, wrote on the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) [UN info page] and the need to focus on reducing inequality [JURIST op-ed]. According to Petrova, the increasingly recognized solution “lies in the direction of holistic government-led interventions.”