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	We need long term solutions to address systemic inequality and injustice by Open Society Foundations, Eath4all, EPI, agencies   A wide-ranging new citizen survey covering 22 countries around the world has revealed a high level of agreement regarding the most significant challenges facing the world today—and a common desire for effective global action in response.   But the findings also highlight a lack of confidence in the international community’s ability to work together to address global threats. Pessimism about the direction of the world is most pronounced in Western Europe and the United States.   The survey covered more than 21,000 people around the world—with more than two-thirds of its respondents living in Africa, Latin and North America, the Middle East, and Asia.   The participants were asked a series of questions that ranged from attitudes toward Russia’s war in Ukraine; the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic; the need for international climate action; and the current cost-of-living crisis. The survey also sought to gauge support across a range of ambitious policy options.   The findings, published in a new report, Fault Lines: Global Perspectives on a World in Crisis, included:   Respondents in the Global North and Global South have differing perspectives on the causes of the invasion of Ukraine. But there is strong and widespread support for the view that peace requires Russia to withdraw from Ukrainian territory it has occupied. Only in four of the 20 countries this question was asked in—Senegal, India, Indonesia, and Serbia—did less than 50 percent of the respondents take this view.   Out of all survey respondents, 62 percent agreed that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine could lead to nuclear war, and 65 percent agreed that Russia is a threat to world security. Yet climate change was the issue most often ranked as the most important challenge facing the world, with 86 percent agreeing that it was already affecting people’s lives through heatwaves, droughts, floods, and other extreme weather.   There are high levels of shared global anxiety over inflation and cost-of-living increases, and over potential food shortages. In the three Latin American countries surveyed, 80 percent of respondents agreed that they “often worry about whether my family will go hungry.”   There is a common interest in a range of ambitious global policy solutions—including debt cancellation, climate justice financing, and supporting vaccine research—even in richer countries that would be main sources of the needed financing and investment. In the three Western European countries included in the poll—Great Britain, Germany, and France—58 percent of respondents would support dedicating 2 percent of their national budget to a global solidarity fund to help those most in need—with the figure rising to 65 percent in France. In the United States more than half (53 percent) agreed with the idea.   Despite the apparent interest in global solutions, there was clear dissatisfaction with the work of the UN, particularly in richer countries. In only three countries—Kenya, Nigeria, and Ukraine—did at least 50 percent of the respondents believe that the UN had generally done a good job in relation to the Ukraine invasion—dropping to 25 percent or less in eight countries, including France, the United States, Great Britain, and Japan.   Commenting on the findings of the survey, Mark Malloch-Brown, president of the Open Society Foundations, said:   'In difficult times, we tend to focus on what divides us. But this poll shows a common sense of the nexus of crises engulfing the world; we are more united than we think. As world leaders prepare to gather once again at the opening of the UN General Assembly in New York, will they come together to respond in a concerted, ambitious way that meets this critical moment in human history? Citizens are way ahead of politicians in terms of accepting the scale of support needed, favoring longer-term solutions that address systemic inequality and injustice. Our leaders need to get with the program before it is too late'.   Yamide Dagnet, Open Society’s director of Climate Justice, said:   'We shouldn't be surprised that so many people around the world cite climate change as the most important challenge facing the world—the climate crisis is inextricably linked to the turmoil we are witnessing worldwide. Without meaningful action, it will compound further these crises. Yet again, the public are ahead of policymakers on climate action'.   Participants to this survey, from 22 countries across seven global regions, were asked a range of questions across subjects including Russia’s war in Ukraine; the fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic; the need for international climate action; and the current cost-of-living crisis. The survey tracked sentiment toward a number of policy options, which could help address these respective challenges in the short, medium, and long term.   * Datapraxis surveyed 21,413 respondents worldwide between July 22 and August 15, 2022, across 22 countries. Countries polled included Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, Moldova, Nigeria, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Turkey, Great Britain, United States, and Ukraine.   http://www.opensocietyfoundations.org/publications/fault-lines-global-perspectives-on-a-world-in-crisis   Sep. 2022   The cost-of-living crisis, Kate Pickett writes, follows a familiar path of hugely unequal burdens. It’s time to change course.   I’m feeling outraged, with a strong sense of deja-vu. From my vantage point in the United Kingdom—where inequality and social injustice are in particularly sharp focus—we’re on the brink of yet another social and economic crisis. Even more so than in the rest of Europe, energy prices and the cost of living are rocketing.   Yet what is happening at the top? What are our leaders doing? Why are some people, yet again, making eye-watering financial gains while others face destitution and a real fear of being cold and hungry this winter?   The image springs to mind of Nero fiddling while Rome burns—a depraved, corrupt and wildly unpopular emperor, blithely playing music while the populace suffers and failing through inertia to provide any leadership in a crisis.   On a wider canvas, it encapsulates the inadequacies of so many political leaders over recent years, from the global financial crisis to the pandemic, in the face of the climate emergency and now the spiralling cost of living.   As a child, I thought the ‘fiddling’ Nero was up to related to the other English meaning of the word—obtaining money dishonestly, by embezzlement or corruption. I mistakenly assumed he had raided the imperial treasury and made off with his ill-gotten gold. It turns out, however, that my infant misconception makes for exactly the right metaphor of how business figures and investors have profited from the hardship of others. And that provokes even more moral outrage than the passive failures of hapless political leaders.   Look at who suffered from the global financial crisis. It wasn’t the rich, who had caused the problem through unscrupulous financial practices. It was the rest of us who paid the price, as average real incomes declined—and the poorest who suffered the most, with the lowest-paid workers seeing the steepest falls in wages.   Meanwhile, the pay of top chief executives shot up. In the years following the crash, the world’s richest 1 per cent increased their wealth until they owned more than the bottom half of the world’s entire population.   Top investors made billions by buying up shares in failing banks and betting against housing markets that were foreclosing on the mortgages of the poor, realising massive gains during recovery. The 19th-century British financier Nathan Rothschild is credited with the invocation that ‘the time to buy is when there’s blood in the streets’—a horrendously cynical phrase which at least recognises the deep immorality involved.   It has been just the same during the pandemic, with the poorest the most likely to be exposed to the coronavirus, to be infected, to become really ill and to die. Death rates have been twice as high in the most deprived areas of the UK as in the most affluent neighbourhoods, a pattern repeated across the world.   Poor workers couldn’t afford to protect themselves from exposure, small businesses went to the wall and household precarity and financial insecurity increased. At the same time, the rich were not only able to keep themselves safe from infection but were also accumulating wealth—including in Britain from government procurement schemes set up under emergency regulations with lowered scrutiny for corruption. The world’s billionaires saw their wealth increase by nearly 70 per cent during the pandemic.   During this summer of severe drought across Europe, it became clear that huge remuneration packages and dividends had enriched the chief executives and shareholders of the UK’s water companies—previously treated as a public good, water was privatised when Margaret Thatcher was in power. This despite their abysmal record on tackling leaks and pollution and investing in new reservoirs and infrastructure.   Although most of the firms were failing to meet sewage pollution targets, bonuses paid to water company executives rose by 20 per cent in 2021—on average they received extra payments of well over €100,000. Some further rake it in from second jobs on the boards of other companies, where they set the pay and bonuses of other top executives.   We know who is suffering most from rising prices and interest rates in this cost-of-living crisis: those on low incomes, on benefits, families with children, especially lone parents and everyone living in deprived areas. Already we can read stories in Britain of people eating cold food because they cannot afford the energy needed to run their ovens and microwaves, of key workers in the health service calling in sick because they cannot afford petrol to get to work and of people planning to turn off their heating in the winter.   Yet oil and gas companies have made huge profits since the energy crisis began and their chief executives continue to be paid millions—some many millions. Throughout each of these social and economic disasters, it hasn’t simply been a matter of the poor getting poorer and the rich getting somewhat richer. In these big existential crises, the rich have got a lot richer.   If it’s such a familiar pattern, why do we tolerate it? We’ve surely known for long enough that when the rich get richer it doesn’t ‘trickle down’. I’m fond of a cartoon which shows two skeletons sitting in a boat, labelled ’99 per cent’, on the seabed. One skeleton says: ‘They say a rising tide lifts all boats.’ The other replies: ‘Do they say when?’   There are many policy options: imposing windfall taxes on profits, nationalising energy and water companies, linking bonus payments to improvements in service and sustainability, and more. But these are a bandage on a gaping wound. The problems are persistent across time and across sectors.   What we really need is a root-and-branch reshaping of our economy, away from neoliberal, extractive capitalism and towards a system built on the ‘new economics’—more communitarian, egalitarian and democratic, with sustainability and wellbeing as its goals.   This month, 50 years on from its ground-breaking Limits to Growth, the Club of Rome is issuing Earth4All, the result of a two-year research programme by a collective of economic thinkers, scientists and activists of which I have been part. It calls for five extraordinary turnarounds—of poverty, inequality, gender empowerment, food and energy—to create a better future.   This is a movement everyone can join. Check out Earth4All’s website to find resources and learn about actions to support the changes we need to secure a safe, secure and prosperous future for all on a healthy planet. http://bit.ly/3d9gjdF   http://www.earth4all.life/a-major-upgrade   * Kate Pickett is professor of epidemiology, deputy director of the Centre for Future Health and associate director of the Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, at the University of York.   Sep. 2022   Pandemic safety net programs kept millions out of poverty in 2021, reports the Economic Policy Institute. (USA)   It should not have taken a pandemic to realize poverty is a public policy choice. Public investments in safety net programs continue to be extremely effective poverty reduction tools, as newly released Census income data show. Government social programs kept tens of millions of people out of poverty in 2021.   Because of expansions to programs like unemployment insurance benefits and the child tax credit, poverty rates were actually lower in 2021 than they were prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.   The poverty reduction achieved through expanded social insurance programs highlights how much policymakers’ choices can impact poverty.   Unfortunately, some of the program expansions enacted in the pandemic have already been reversed, and cuts to programs like unemployment benefits and the child tax credit will increase household economic distress going forward.   Last year, Social Security had the largest anti-poverty impact, reducing the number of people in poverty by 26 million. Recent policy expansions including refundable tax credits, like the earned income tax credit (EITC) and child tax credit (CTC), and economic impact stimulus payments also reduced the number of people in poverty by roughly 10 and 9 million people respectively.   Census poverty data offer strong evidence that millions were still experiencing economic hardship and financial insecurity throughout 2021. Despite the COVID-19 recession only officially lasting three months according to the National Bureau of Economic Research, the economic pain lingered. The sheer number of people who needed these programs offers a strong rebuke to those who claimed that economic recovery legislation like the 2021 American Rescue Plan was unnecessary spending.   Looking forward, policymakers must continue to prioritize poverty reduction and make these high-impact social insurance programs permanent rather than temporary. The U.S. has long lagged behind its international peers in spending on anti-poverty, social welfare, and family benefits, choosing to accept high levels of poverty as the status quo.   Racism has been a major barrier to expanding social insurance programs. Recent research shows that Americans consistently overestimate the share of Black people supported by government social programs, leading white Americans in particular to oppose many forms of social insurance. In addition, the temporary nature of the 2020 and 2021 expansions to government social programs suggests that, despite their huge success at reducing economic deprivation, many policymakers choose austerity over effective poverty reduction.   Social insurance programs kept over 25 million people out of poverty in 2021. Millions of low-income Americans were supported by new or expanded programs, such as the economic impact stimulus payments, the refundable child tax credit, and expanded unemployment insurance. Given the overwhelming effectiveness of these programs in keeping people out of poverty, it is unconscionable that policymakers have allowed them to expire and added to the stress of low-income families in the years to come.   http://www.epi.org/blog/pandemic-safety-net-programs-kept-millions-out-of-poverty-in-2021-new-census-data-show/   * More than four billion people live without any social protection to protect them from crisis, reports the UN International Labour Organization. Civil Society agencies from across the world Call for a Global Fund for Social Protection to build a better future:   http://www.socialprotectionfloorscoalition.org/civil-society-call/ http://www.srpoverty.org/thematic-reports/ http://www.ilo.org/global/research/global-reports/world-social-security-report/2020-22/lang--en/index.htm http://www.hrw.org/news/2022/04/14/imf/world-bank-targeted-safety-net-programs-fall-short-rights-protection   Sep. 2022   Towards a global fiscal architecture using a human rights lens - Report by Independent Expert on Foreign Debt and Human Rights, Ms. Attiya Waris.   In this present report, the Independent Expert focuses on exploring more effective and fair mechanisms to use public resources to guarantee human rights for all by tackling the uncontrolled growth of the wealth of a few, which is deepening inequalities. For all Governments, losses in taxable revenue through illicit financial flows reduce the available pool of resources essential for investing in social policies and public services.   Governments cannot tackle those issues alone, making international cooperation and assistance a cornerstone of the present report. A multilateral, inclusive and democratic fiscal architecture is crucial to addressing global tax avoidance and evasion.   In the present report, the Independent Expert addresses the issue of international tax governance through the creation and development of a global United Nations-led tax convention and a global tax body using a human rights lens.   http://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/thematic-reports/a77169-towards-global-fiscal-architecture-using-human-rights-lens-report http://taxjustice.net/press/un-secretary-general-signals-support-for-un-tax-convention/ http://taxjustice.net/press/un-tax-convention-proposed-at-general-assembly/ http://globaltaxjustice.org/news/civil-society-organisations-support-the-g77-and-china-proposal-on-un-intergovernmental-tax-body-and-the-africa-groups-proposal-on-a-un-tax-convention/ http://www.icij.org/investigations/paradise-papers/global-tax-proposal-gains-ground-at-un-as-oecd-plan-falters/ http://taxjustice.net/2022/09/28/to-protect-childrens-right-to-education-governments-must-fight-tax-abuse/ http://www.cesr.org/why-tax-justice-is-critical-to-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/ Visit the related web page
	Act for Peace, Climate & Justice by Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP)   Sep. 2022   The Global Peoples Assembly organised by the Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP) is part of the Global Week of Action #Act4SDGs taking part from 16 to 25 September. Thousands of organisations and individuals are active during the week to demand the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) from their governments.   Peoples’ Assemblies are planned in 27 countries by GCAP coalitions – 15 in Africa, 6 in Asia, 5 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 1 in Europe. These assemblies organised at the national level will give inputs into the regional and constituency assemblies as part of the Global People’s Assembly.   The impact of Covid is still strong in many countries – especially because of vaccine inequality. The debt crisis has led to austerity when increased spending in the social sector is needed. The high inflation of food and energy – further aggravated by the war against the Ukraine – and the increased impact of climate change have resulted in more people living in poverty and hunger than before.   Next year, 2023, will be the mid-way point to achieve the SDGs. If we don’t bring radical changes in the policies, we won’t reach them. Therefore, we call upon everyone to mobilise in the Global Week of Action – to Flip the Script!   * Progress on the 2030 agenda is under threat. In 2022, the world is not working for most people and our planet. Human rights are being ignored and millions of people are being left behind, while a few become ever richer and more powerful.   * The war in Ukraine together with other ongoing conflicts has led to a massive increase in the number of people facing acute food insecurity, with rising food prices making life even harder for billions of people.   * At the same time, climate change presents a long-term threat to our shared home on this earth, with temperatures continuing to rise and extreme weather events devastating communities at the frontlines.   * The Covid-19 pandemic pushed humanity’s resilience to the limit and continues to have vast impacts on the lives of people and the wider social, economic and environmental fabric of our world. Hundreds of millions of people lost their jobs and income and were pushed into poverty.   * The worsening debt situation in Latin America, Africa and Asian countries has led to governments taking austerity measures - cutting spending on social protection, health and education.   * There has been alarming rise of violence against women and girls. Older people, persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, ethnic minorities, communities discriminated by descent, migrants, women and children are suffering in multiple ways.   * The Covid 19 pandemic followed by the inadequate response of the governments has worsened the food crisis forcing millions of people into hunger and abject poverty.   It has exposed the structural inequalities entrenched in societies. The poor have suffered while the number of billionaires have increased. The protection measures undertaken by governments to address hunger and offer livelihood opportunities lost by marginalized people during the pandemic have been lackadaisical.   COVID vaccines are beyond reach of people for a large percentage of people in some low and middle income countries. Russia’s aggression on Ukraine has exacerbated the hunger crisis.   So, we the people, demand FULL SOCIAL PROTECTION and support to revive the livelihood of the marginalized, a PEOPLE’S VACCINE, NET ZERO EMISSIONS, and an END TO WAR AND CONFLICTS!   http://gcap.global/news/declaration-of-the-2022-global-peoples-assembly/ http://gcap.global/peoples-assembly/ http://gcap.global/news/gcap-partners-with-un-sdg-action-campaign-during-global-week-of-action/   Sep. 2022   85% of the world’s population will live in the grip of stringent austerity measures by next year.   A new report End Austerity: A global report on budget cuts and harmful social reforms shows that 85 per cent of the world’s population will live in the grip of austerity measures by 2023. This trend is likely to continue until at least 2025, when 75 per cent of the global population (129 countries) could still be living under these conditions.   Austerity measures include scaling down social protection programs for women, children, the elderly and other vulnerable people, leaving only a small safety net for a fraction of the poor; cutting or capping the wages and number of teachers, health and local civil servants and eliminating subsidies; privatising or commercialising public services such as energy, water and public transport; and reducing pensions and workers’ rights.   Civil society organisations from across the world are launching an #EndAusterity campaign today to fight back against the wave of austerity that is sweeping across the world, supercharging inequality and compounding the effects of the cost-of-living crisis and climate breakdown.   Isabel Ortiz, Director of the Global Social Justice Program at the Initiative for Policy Dialogue, and co-author of the report, said: “Decisions on budget cuts affect the lives of millions of people and should not be taken behind closed doors by a few technocrats at a Ministry of Finance, with the support of the IMF. Policies must instead be agreed transparently in a national social dialogue, negotiating with trade unions, employer federations and civil society organisations. Austerity cuts are not inevitable, in fact our report presents nine financing alternatives that are available, even to the poorest countries.”   * Report End Austerity: A global report on budget cuts and harmful social reforms: http://bit.ly/3UMRQvz Visit the related web page
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