Human Rights and Economic Policy Reforms

Abstract

This article focuses on the vexed relationship between human rights and economic policy reform. It opens with an exploration of the reasons for the historic and contemporary nonalignment and disconnect between these areas. It then turns to an overview of the 2019 Guiding Principles on Human Rights Impact Assessments for Economic Reform Policies, developed under the mandate of UN Independent Expert on debt and human rights. Having introduced the different contributions to the Special Issue, the authors conclude by addressing the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis for the relationship between human rights and economic policy reform. Will this crisis serve as an opportunity to accelerate mutual understanding or will human rights concerns remain subordinated to economic ones?

Keywords: human rights, economic policy, COVID-19, COVID, crisis, human rights impact assessment, economic reform, economic crisis, financial crisis, fiscal policy, debt, sovereign debt, human rights approach