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A very short time ago, the General Assembly granted Observer Status to the International Chamber of Commerce. This means the institution, which represents the interests of the biggest multinational corporations, will be able to sit in every session and even get the chance to speak, far more opportunities than what the civil society has. This event can be understood as yet another step in the process of consolidation of a huge influence of the corporate sector into the setting of the development agenda.

Within the UN, the influence of the corporate sector, as well as of private interests, has risen non-stop. From the late 90s promotion of Global Compact, to the more formal or informal participation of corporates representatives and philanthropists in SDGs discussions, their views are embedded in the development discourse. As Adams and Martens (2015) points out, there is “a growing reliance on corporate-led solutions to global problems”, which denies that in the context of financialized globalization and the dominance of market self-regulation, the private sector contributes much more to the problems than to the solution.

Recent disturbing trends in international finance have particularly problematic implications, especially for developing countries.

The recently released United Nations report, World Economic Situation and Prospects 2017 (WESP 2017), is the only recent report of a multilateral inter-governmental organization to recognize these problems, especially as they are relevant to the financing requirements for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Austerity policies have all too often gone hand-in-hand with undermining economic, social and cultural rights, while at the same time increasing inequalities in income and wealth within the European Union and its member States.

This is one of the main conclusions highlighted by Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky (from Argentina), 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, in his report (A/HRC/34/57/Add.1) to the UN Human Rights Council, which meets here from 27 February to 24 March.

Austerity-related labour market reforms promoted by multilateral and regional financial institutions in many developed and developing countries have been shown to not help economies recover after crises, and have instead inflicted substantial harm on working people, which will be felt for many years.

This is one of the main findings of the UN Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt on the enjoyment of all human rights, Mr  Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky (from Argentina), in his latest report to the thirty-fourth session of the UN Human Rights Council, which meets here from 27 February to 24 March.

In his report, the rights expert observed that many States with unsustainable levels of debt or experiencing a financial crisis have implemented austerity policies and labour market reforms with a strong deregulatory impetus, either on their own initiative or at the behest of external creditors, including international or regional financial institutions.