GSP Digest

Redistribution

Rhetorically, it is now not only poverty but inequality that are caught in the crosshairs of the international development agenda. The formulation of the 10th Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) to ‘reduce inequality within and among countries’ would seem to open the door for redistribution to become a larger part of the policy advice dispensed by the United Nations (UN) and others. As one story of the battle over that goal’s various targets tells, however, the SDGs were never meant to bring about meaningful redistribution, but rather simply attempt to lift sinking boats with a rising tide.

The Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) suggests that

It was at the [World] Bank’s urging that SDG target 10.1 does not focus explicitly on reducing economic disparity per se (as measured by the widely used Gini coefficient or Palma ratio), but instead concentrates on boosting the incomes of the bottom 40 per cent. ¹

Of the data being collected to monitor this part of the agenda, the World Bank will be responsible for reporting on income growth among poorer households and on another proposed relative poverty measure – those living with incomes at below half of the national median. ²

For CESR and other watchdogs, the focus is a deliberate distraction from what should be an embarrassing accumulation of wealth at the top end of the income spectrum. Neither measure would serve to shed light on the increasingly lopsided distributions of income in many countries, only insufficient growth at the bottom. In fact, the only indicator for SDG 10 with the potential to measure wealth capture by elites is the proposed ‘labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection transfers’. The International Labour Organization (ILO), responsible for producing data to monitor the indicator, has reported an overall downward trend in labour shares due to increased automation and financialization of many developed economies and weakened bargaining power of workers; causes in developing economies remain less well understood. ³ Titled 2017 World Employment and Social Outlook, the report also states that the decline has been a drag on consumer demand and growth, a necessity for any rising economic tide. The fifth meeting of the Inter-agency and Expert Group on Sustainable Development Goal Indicators (IAEG-SDGs) was held from 28 to 31 March 2017 in Ottawa. The group will propose a complete SDG monitoring framework to the General Assembly in September 2017 for adoption.

Meanwhile, Oxfam International has continued its reporting on inequalities with its most outrageous comparison yet: The eight richest people in the world have now amassed as much wealth as half the human race combined. ⁴ The report, An Economy for the 99%, attributes the imbalance to policies and tax codes skewed to favour corporations and wealthy individuals. It also said that the situation was being fuelled by the use of tax havens, in which some USD 7.6 trillion of personal wealth is sitting in offshore accounts.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD) initiative to counter tax avoidance strategies continues (see the Regulation section). And while efforts to revive the global financial transaction tax have stalled at the G20, the push for a European Union-wide financial transaction tax has moved ahead – although not without its own opposition. The current deal for a new tax on trades of shares, bonds and derivatives would require at least nine European Union (EU) countries to participate in the scheme. However, there is disagreement over the specifics of the new levy, with Belgium, Slovenia and Slovakia still wavering on joining the bloc. ⁵ Negotiators will meet again in April 2017.

Regulation

Today, the world continues to deal with an unprecedented movement of people across international boundaries. In addition to many economic migrants in search of opportunities abroad, the long-running conflicts in Afghanistan, Syria and elsewhere have created large numbers of refugees fleeing violence. Several UN agencies have urged the Trump administration to continue the United States’ long-standing asylum policy and its resettlement programme. ⁶ In response to the Trump administration’s efforts to bar travel to the United States by certain nationalities or to give preference to religious minorities from Muslim-majority countries, a joint statement from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) stressed the importance of equal treatment for all refugees regardless of their nationality or religion. Meanwhile in Europe, the EU executive has recommended the gradual resumption of the Dublin accord which states that refugees must claim asylum in the first EU country they enter. ⁷ Greece was made exempt in 2011 due to the economic crisis and now the restoration of the agreement would apply only to people arriving in the country after 15 March 2017. Unaccompanied minors and designated ‘vulnerable groups’ of migrants will not be subject to the reinstated rules. ⁸

The bulletin of the European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) argues that the previous problems in Greece have not been solved and that there remains an ongoing humanitarian crisis in the country’s refugee centres, as the hunger strike orchestrated by inhabitants of the Ellinko centre demonstrated. ⁹ The bulletin, however, also summarizes some more promising developments, such as the withdrawal of a legislative proposal that would seriously limit access to territory for refugees and asylum seekers attempting to enter Slovenia. It also includes reference to a report presented in the United Kingdom to the House of Commons Select Committee on Home Affairs that denounced the conditions imposed on those seeking asylum in country’s accommodation centres. But ECRE expressed scepticism about an agreement signed by Libya, the EU and Italy, which would restrict access to EU member state territory for those seeking protection under the guise of increasing Libyan capacities to save lives at sea. In a joint statement, UNHCR and IOM said, ‘We believe that, given the current context, it is not appropriate to consider Libya a safe third country nor to establish extraterritorial processing of asylum-seekers in North Africa’.

In trade regulation, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) came into force on 22 February 2017 when Rwanda, Oman, Chad and Jordan ratified the agreement surpassing the required threshold of two thirds of World Trade Organization (WTO) members. ¹⁰ It is expected to reduce trade costs by between 9.6% and 23.1% worldwide, making global trade ‘cheaper, easier and faster’ in the words of United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Deputy Secretary-General Joakim Reiter. ¹¹ The TFA standardizes customs procedures and reduces the time and complexity of exports processing. However, critics of the TFA state that benefits from lower trade barriers could remain elusive for poorer countries, who have flexibility over which of the new standards they will put in place – an accommodation designed to limit the cost implications of compliance with new standards, including lengthier inspection operations, regulations and paperwork. ¹²

Regarding tax regulation, Oxfam issued a discussion paper entitled The Case for a Billionaire Tax, which estimates that a 1.5 per cent tax on all individual net wealth in excess of USD 1 billion would be sufficient to provide universal access to basic education and healthcare in countries collecting the additional revenue. ¹³

In an effort to combat tax avoidance, a new Australian initiative to create a public registry of owners of shell companies could strengthen efforts to combat tax avoidance and corporate corruption. Kelly O’Dwyer, the Australian Minister for Financial Services, said, ‘Improving transparency around who owns, controls and benefits from companies will assist with preventing the misuse of companies for illicit activities including tax evasion, money laundering, bribery, corruption and terrorism financing’. ¹⁴

Australia also passed its proposed Diverted Profits Tax law. The plan, colloquially known as the ‘Google tax’, imposes a 40 per cent penalty on profits redirected by multinationals from Australia. The Tax Justice Network said this initiative was necessary after the failure of the OECD’s base erosion and profit-shifting project. ¹⁵

Rights

Reproductive rights came to the forefront of the international discussion on human rights after President Trump reinstated a policy that prohibits American foreign aid to be granted to organizations that discuss abortion as an option for family planning. ¹⁶ This policy commonly known as the ‘global gag rule’ was first introduced by former President Ronald Regan in 1984, and it has been a game of political football in US politics ever since. Since its creation, the rule has been suspended by Democrats and reinstated by Republicans depending upon who holds power in the executive branch. Still, the Trump freeze has gone further than before, and expands the ban to all US global health assistance. ¹⁷ Médecins Sans Frontières has warned that this expanded policy is playing with the lives of women and girls, as will result in unsafe abortions and will impact the fight against the spread of many diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis among others. ¹⁸ The charity Marie Stopes International points out that the loss of access to safe services could result in some 21,700 maternal deaths. ¹⁹

In response to the ban, international donors gathered in Brussels on 2 March 2017 to raise funds to ensure that charities that support or provide abortion service can continue to do their work. ²⁰ The conference entitled ‘She Decides’ highlighted how central reproductive rights are to the achievement of human rights for women. Capturing these sentiments, Dr. Flavia Bustreo, Assistant Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and Vice-Chair of Gave, the Vaccine Alliance stated that the fight went well beyond the sexual and reproductive health rights of women: ‘It is about women’s and girls’ ability to make decisions about their own bodies and their environment so they can improve their health, their futures and their lives’. ²¹ The key goal was to ensure that the funding gap of some 600 million euros created by US withdrawal would be covered. ²² Some 181 million euros weres raised as a result of the conference with more funds expected. ²³ In addition to the conference, the UN Human Rights Council also held a panel discussion on preventable maternal mortality and morbidity and human rights. ²⁴ In April 2017, the US government announced its intention to withhold funding from the UN Population Fund, or UNFPA, citing its support or participation in ‘the management of a programme of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization’. On 4 April 2017, the UNFPA issued a statement denying the allegation and regretting the decision. ²⁵

Furthermore, the 61st Commission on the Status of Women held from 13–24 March, focused on the theme of ‘women’s economic empowerment in the changing world of work’. ²⁶ The UN Secretary-General António Guterres pointed out that women’s equality would add some $12 trillion to global growth over the next 10 years. ²⁷ While this number is staggering, the UN Women Executive Director Phumzile-Mlambo-Ngcuka also noted that half of the women workers in the world, in some countries close to 90%, are only informally employed. ²⁸ These high rates of informal employment mean that without concrete actions to ensure access to social protection, the growth that Guterres points to will remain elusive.

Health

The year has begun with a set of new challenges facing public health. Again in the United States, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act could lead to between 15 million and 25 million Americans losing their health insurance over the next few years, with a dramatic increase in out-of–pocket spending on health. However, the precise numbers are the subject of several heated controversies. ³⁸

In terms of global public health, the consequences of the Trump presidency have yet to unfold, however prognoses are not optimistic for possible legislation ³⁹ on universal health coverage, evidence-based health policy, reproductive health rights, vulnerable populations, the social determinants of health and health inequalities. Whether the United States will remain a ‘pillar’ ⁴⁰ of global health aid as they have been in the past is questionable. Funds to support the health of fefugees, ⁴¹ for example, as a highly vulnerable population, risk being even further depleted under a Trump administration.

It goes without saying that the situation of people who still live in war and crisis zones are even more at risk. In Syria, health needs are growing, with an estimated 12.8 million in need of medical assistance in 2017. ⁴² Unfortunately, the situation for health workers ⁴³ also becomes more and more dangerous, as the country’s medical facilities are being targeted, eradicating what should be medical neutrality in an unprecedented manner.

In Somalia, a drought of historic severity is currently unfolding ⁴⁴ causing another famine in a country where ‘less than half’ of people have access to basic health services, threatening the lives of an estimated 400,000 children. Elsewhere, rapid response is needed ⁴⁵ to counter epidemics in large areas of East and Southern Africa. Toward the west, places like north-eastern Nigeria ⁴⁶ are suffering from year-long conflicts endangering the population of increased nutrition insecurity and poor hygiene conditions. The WHO has called for an emergency programme in order to address the 85% funding gap between the requirements and currently available financing. Yemen is in a similar situation with a crumbling health system unable to meet its population’s health needs. ⁴⁷

What must be seen as one of the greatest achievements in global health is the decrease of the child mortality rate, which was largely attained thanks to vaccines, among others against the deadly measles. It appears symptomatic of current global failures that one of the three countries struck by Ebola in 2016 now suffers a measles ⁴⁸ epidemic: Guinea reported over 400 suspected cases in the first quarter of 2017.

In the midst of these crises, the theme of this year’s G20 under Germany’s presidency, ‘shaping an interconnected world’ may sound trivial. ⁴⁹ In reality, however, it will look at global health and will bring in members from the scientific and research community in preparation for a high-level ‘Science 20 dialogue forum’ ⁵⁰ to be held in July 2017. Its focus on ‘Strategies and Tools to Combat Communicable and Non-Communicable Diseases’ will address the threat of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) facing all countries. Sharing data is an essential and cost effective way in which countries can advance the fight against NCDs, ⁵¹ which has been an endeavour championed by Bill Gates’ since he coined the lack of quality data as the ‘black hole of health understanding’. ⁵² Analysing data also was the obsession of another contributor to global health, Hans Rosling, advisor to WHO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), who passed away on 7 February 2017. Throughout his career, he travelled the world giving passionate talks and explaining the world using graphics like those now found on Gapminder. ⁵³

Social protection

In 2016, achieving the goal of universal social protection in the context of the sustainable development agenda characterized the global social protection discourse. The launch of a Global Partnership for Universal Social Protection ⁵⁴ drew attention to the issue at the 2016 UN General Assembly, an effort initiated by the World Bank and ILO together with other UN agencies, bilateral donors and international non-governmental organization (NGOs). More recently, universal basic income has emerged as a trend in the area of social protection. This type of transfer, sometimes referred to as citizen’s wage, is granted to everyone with no means test imposed. While the idea of universal basic income is centuries old, only now have a growing number of pilots at large scale started, which not only target people living in poverty.

For example, in December 2016, Finland approved a nationwide pilot to pay 2000 unemployed citizens an unconditional monthly sum (EUR 560) for a duration of 2 years starting in January 2017, becoming the first country in Europe to do so. ⁵⁵ Meanwhile, the Dutch city of Utrecht is also conducting an experiment to provide 250 citizens already receiving government benefits with a guaranteed monthly income (€960 per month). This trial includes several test groups with different modalities, for example, using conditionalities such as volunteer work, as well as control groups who continue to receive their usual benefits. ⁵⁶ Further pilots for 2017 are planned in Ontario, Canada, devoting roughly USD 18 million, and in Scotland at council level in Fife and Glasgow. Several Italian cities are also considering a guaranteed basic income following a pilot in Livorno paying about EUR 500 to the city’s 100 poorest families. In January 2017, this pilot was expanded to include another 100 families.

A survey last year found that 68% of EU citizens would ‘definitely or probably’ vote in favour of some form of universal basic income. ⁵⁷ But universal basic income is not something being considered only in industrialized countries. In 2016, Give Directly announced a beta test in Kenya for a duration of 10 years (USD 30 million). ⁵⁸

Given an increasing number of countries dealing with protracted crises and situations of fragility, a number of development partners are focusing on social protection design and implementation modalities in humanitarian and fragile contexts, and how to bridge the gap between short and long-term assistance. In 2016, the South-South Learning Forum organized by the World Bank and GIZ in Berlin discussed ‘Shock-Responsive Social Protection Systems in an Uncertain World’ and how social protection systems respond to three different types of shocks and crises, namely economic crises, displacement and natural disasters. ⁵⁹ In January 2017, EU Member States and European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries met to discuss social protection in development cooperation, and defined future priorities for joint action in this area with a strong focus on adaptive social protection. Later this year, in July 2017, development and humanitarian actors such as UNICEF, Exploited Children’s Help Organization (ECHO), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP), UNHCR, and bilateral donors are jointly organizing an international conference to shed light on the role social protection can play in contexts of fragility and forced displacement.

Education

The UN SDGs ⁶⁰ highlight the need to pursue an inclusive and quality education for all, which necessarily includes the empowerment of all women and, ultimately, the achievement of gender equality. However, girls and women today face disadvantages not only within the education system, but also through the links between education systems and the labour market (e.g., the glass ceiling) as recently reported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Global Education Report Gender Review. ⁶¹

Girls and women continue to suffer stereotyping, misrepresentation and under-recognition in many spheres of the education system. In order to analyse gender bias in textbooks, a policy paper entitled Textbooks pave the way to sustainable development was recently published through the UN Global Monitoring Report. ⁶² A corollary of this misrepresentation is the limited participation of girls and women in science and vocational fields, as denounced on the UN Day on Girls and Women in Science on 11 February 2017. ⁶³ The Global Partnership for Education examined the question ‘Why are girls and women under-represented in science related fields in Africa?’ and identified factors such as the lack of female teachers, teachers’ prejudice against girls, and the absence of pedagogically holistic approaches to science. ⁶⁴ In this sense, a strategy to increase girls’ science skills includes intensive ‘boot camp’ training programmes, which recently took place in Latin America and the United States, and were reviewed by the World Bank in the paper Bootcamps: Raising expectations for girls in math, science and technology. ⁶⁵

Still, girls and women face even more direct threats to their right to an education. Such is the case lamented by the report by Human Rights Watch in Tanzania that asserts that female students were exposed to widespread sexual harassment and even corporal punishment, and that girls were not allowed to re-enroll in classes after their children were born. ⁶⁶ Similarly, the global campaign Girls Not Brides (a partnership of more than 700 civil society organizations from over 90 countries) condemns child marriages that trap vulnerable individuals in a cycle of poverty, partly because these marriages deprive girls of educational opportunities, as also pointed out by the World Bank. ⁶⁷ To this end, the Bangladeshi coalition of ‘Girls not Brides’ has initiated a campaign to maintain the Child Marriage Restraint Act 2014 in a nation that has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world. ⁶⁸ The law suffered a setback in February, when an amendment inserted a ‘special circumstances’ provision, which allows for certain forms of child marriage with the consent of the parents or legal guardians. ⁶⁹ Despite laws against it, the practice of child marriage remains widespread, and according to UNFPA, it affects one in every three girls in developing countries. ⁷⁰ Child marriage is also a human rights violation that affects all dimensions of the child, including their educational opportunities. Conversely, schools and education can play a key role in reversing gender inequalities. This was particularly evident during the International Day of Zero Tolerance to Female Genital Mutilation of 6 February 2017, when UNICEF and a partner organization launched a programme to accelerate the abolition of the practice. ⁷¹

Efforts to measure progress in education expansion as a part of the SDGs remains a lively debate. In order to build consensus on the SDG monitoring framework, UNESCO’s Technical Cooperation Group for SDG 4, Education 2030, has held regular meetings. ⁷² However, the group’s progress has been slow, making tracking progress across all relevant SDG targets not immediately possible, as denounced by the Senior Education Advisor at UNICEF, Jordan Naidoo, in ‘Agenda 2030 – SDG4 Education 2030 – One Year On: Challenges and Opportunities’. ⁷³ Also the construction of global education rankings, based on international large-scale assessments (such as the Programme for International Student Assessment or PISA, Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study or TIMSS, or Progress in International Reading Literacy Study, otherwise known as PIRLS) is the subject of much debate, including whether it is necessary to incorporate more variables into the analysis (such as the countries’ historical, institutional and economic backgrounds) in order to produce a more nuanced picture, which would avoid competitive education rankings – likely not the best measure of educational performance – as suggested by Daniel Caro and Jenny Lenkeit. ⁷⁴

Meanwhile, the Drafting Committee of the future Global Convention on Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications established by UNESCO met for the third time in Paris on 13–15 February. This committee is expected to create a draft text for the recognition of higher education qualifications at the global level. This is expected to facilitate the inter-regional mobility of students, teachers and researchers, as well as respond to the current context of internationalization and new trends of higher education. ⁷⁵

Also, the Institute of Early Childhood Development (IECD) has organized the first biennial international Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) conference in the Seychelles on 16–18 February 2017. The conference focused on the theme ‘Building Resilient Early Childhood Care and Education Systems: Lessons of Experience’ in the presence of Ms. Irina Bokova, the UNESCO Director-General. ⁷⁶ Ministers and policymakers from 26 countries also took part in the European Regional Consultation on Open Educational Resources (OER) in Malta on 23–24 February 2017. ⁷⁷ This was a regional consultation in the lead up to the Second World OER Congress to take place in September 2017, organized by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and UNESCO, which aims to identify the challenges, best practices and recommendations among mainstream OER practices. ⁷⁸

Habitat, land, housing

Following the October 2016 Habitat III meeting and its adoption of the New Urban Agenda, the World Economic Forum released a new report in February 2017 on the best ways to address the urbanization challenge. ⁷⁹ Entitled Harnessing Public-Private Cooperation to Deliver the New Urban Agenda, the report highlights that the private sector has a key role to play in addressing urbanization. ⁸⁰ Indeed, the report notes that the private sector is ‘better prepared than government agencies to drive urban transformation, and can contribute across the entire urban value chain’. ⁸¹ In other words, the report argues that cities need to provide a framework for private sector engagement and encourage more investment by the private sector. In this way, the cities should provide an ‘enabling environment’ for this engagement. This message differs from the discussion prior to the Habitat III meeting where cities were discussing the need for more access to international finance for the public sector to tackle urban development. ⁸² The need for public–private partnerships has also been echoed by many experts, including academics and global and national policy-makers. ⁸³ However, public–private partnerships are not without their critics, and there is still suspicion among the public sector about the involvement of private sector actors. In particular, worth considering is how such partnerships would impact the goal of the New Urban Agenda of making cities more inclusive and ensuring that those who are disadvantaged are heard and brought into the development discussions.

The role of government intervention also continues to be debated in the area of housing as it relates to meeting SDG 11 on ensuring housing for all by 2030. A new World Bank blog post points to three common misconceptions in terms of meeting the housing goal. ⁸⁴ For proponents of government involvement in housing, decent and affordable housing is a right. For opponents, it is a private asset where there should be limited government involvement. Still, the global housing crisis is further exacerbated when natural disasters strike and the need for government assistance is increased. As such, the recommendation made in the post is for governments in developing economies to consider ways to build more resilient cities, pre-empting the need for post-shock state interventions.

In the developing world, and particularly in Africa, many policymakers seem to be paying attention. Indeed, as researcher Peter Griffiths points out, ‘Africa was the only region to provide a coordinated response to what should go [as inputs] into the United Nations’ New Urban Agenda’. ⁸⁵ But as he notes, the African Union brought principles and efforts outlined in the AU’s Agenda 2063 into line with the new UN document. As such, the region appears to be at the forefront of a coordinated effort to address the growing urban challenges. International organizations and foundations, such as the Rockefeller Foundation’s project 100 Resilient Cities are providing support to these efforts. The 100 Resilient Cities supports many major African cities by funding a chief resilience officer for each city to draw up a plan to make their cities more sustainable. Therefore, it can be said that the New Urban Agenda is in various ways continuing to shape the dialogue on habitat several months after the Habitat III meeting.