Intersectionality, Economic Justice and the Right to Development

This publication is a summary of a submission, sent to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Development in June 2023 in response to a call to inform his vision-setting report. In this submission, SRI called for the Special Rapporteur to address inequalities and the right to development from an intersectional perspective, and to provide a thematic report dedicated to gender and the right to development.

HRC 57: AWID, BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights,SRI, ILGA World, FORUM-ASIA Statement to General Debate on Item 8

This council must act now to prevent itself from collapsing under the weight of its own compromise and complicity. We call on all states to end colonial domination and oppression, discrimination and persecution - we ask the states, if you can't hold genocidal regimes to account, how can we expect anyone else to adhere to accountability mechanisms.

HRC 57: SRI Statement to the Panel discussion on th​e implementation of States’ obligations on the role of the family in supporting the human rights of its members

The principle of universality must be applied to challenge which families are considered to be worthy of state protection and therefore which family members are entitled to human rights, according to the state. At this very moment, we are witnessing families being decimated in service of a racist, colonial state and its expansionist aspirations. Are these family members not entitled to human rights?

HRC 56: SRI and AWID statement to the annual full-day discussion on the human rights of women: Panel 2: Human rights economy and women’s rights

Human rights economy seeks to prioritize investment in economic, social and cultural rights, as well as the right to development. However, the transformative potential of a human rights economy will remain hollow without addressing the global financial architecture as a colonial structure that exerts control over countries in the Global South through debt burdens, austerity measures, structural adjustment programs and loan conditionalities through international financial institutions.

Submission to the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights: the right to participate in sports

Prepared in response to the call for inputs issued by the Special Rapporteur on cultural rights to inform her report on the right to participate in sports, this submission advocates for an intersectional approach that examines the colonial, racist, patriarchal and capitalist underpinnings and root causes for violations of the right to participate in sports.

HRC 55: SRI Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Independent Expert on Foreign Debt

As noted in the report, military spending by Global North states reflects their priorities and disregard for basic human rights - and we remind states in the Global North that their military aid and arms exports currently contribute to the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, in violation of the current ICJ provisional measures order.

HRC 55: SRI Statement to the panel discussion on challenges and good practices to realize the right to social security and to provide quality public services

President, this panel comes at a critical juncture for the premier multilateral body responsible for promoting and protecting human rights. UNDP has documented that “twenty-five developing economies, the highest number since 2000, spent over 20 percent of their government revenues in 2022 on total external debt servicing.”

SRI Conversations Summary: The Political Economy of Sexual Rights 2023

Sexual rights are profoundly impacted by the interrelated global crises brought on by capitalism through rampant neoliberalism, unchecked extractivism and climate degradation, violent populism and nationalism, soaring inequality within and between states, and entrenched patriarchal, racist, classist and ableist systems of oppression. As part of the development of a new ten-year strategy, SRI sought to deepen its analysis of the political economy of sexual rights. Using a participatory approach, SRI convened a series of three conversations that teased out different dimensions of the overarching theme. Each conversation drew in various actors working nationally, regionally, and globally.

This document contains a summary of the interventions of our 3 conversations of 2023 on the political economy of sexual rights.

Summary of SRI Conversation 1: Legacies and contemporary forms of colonialism, imperialism, and occupation, and their impact on sexual and reproductive rights

This summary contains the essence of our panellists' interventions during our 1rst conversation on the the political economy of sexual rights focusing on the legacies and contemporary forms of colonialism, imperialism, and occupation, and their impact on sexual and reproductive rights.

HRC 54 Action Canada Statement to the ID with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous People

We urge Canada to honour its treaty obligations, fully implement the calls to action set out in the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the calls to justice in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women’s National Inquiry, and to guarantee in law and practice the rights set forth in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

HRC 54 SRI Statement on the ID on OHCHR report on panel discussion on the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism

Until all neocolonial and occupying states and forces are withdrawn, until transnational corporations and foreign military bases and operations are expelled, until extractivist industries are stopped, until debt is cancelled and the international economic order reframed to put people before profit, people living under occupation and those who bear the brunt of neocolonialism as well as their allies will continue to fight to be free.

HRC 54 SRI & IWRAW Asia Pacific Joint Statement to the Interactive Dialogue with the SR on the Right to Development

When we talk about debt, let us also talk about the unpaid reparations, current and historical illicit financial flows, and the global tax abuses that benefit Global North countries, corporations, and economic elites across the world.

HRC 54 SRI Statement to the ID on the OHCHR report on economic, social and cultural rights, and COVID-19 recovery

The current economic, geopolitical and global health context is a reflection of colonial power dynamics and structures shaping racist inequalities in resources, health access and outcomes within and among countries. COVID-19 highlighted the impacts of decades of systematic underfunding of health systems partly fuelled by austerity, privatisation and structural adjustment programs, underpinned by neoliberal ideologies and approaches.

Register Now: SRI Conversations: Colonialism & Sexual Rights

SRI is undertaking a series of conversations to explore the political economy of sexual rights and its implications for global advocacy. Our first conversation will be on the following theme: legacies and contemporary forms of colonialism, imperialism, and occupation, and their impact on sexual and reproductive rights. Join us for this exciting online event on 30 August 2023 from 14:00 to 15:30 CEST. Speakers will be announced shortly. Register now for this event using the form below.

HRC 53 Joint Statement: Interactive dialogue with the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls

Feminists have long understood that poverty is the result of violent impoverishment and (neo)colonial economic exploitation. We know that economic justice is essential for the realization of gender justice - just as it is for racial, disability or climate justice. However, members of this Council continue to treat these issues in siloes, or even as competing human rights concerns.

Joint submission to the Independent Expert on foreign debt: multiple crises, fiscal systems and human rights

This joint submission by SRI, AWID and IWRAW AP responds to a call for input issued by the Independent Expert on foreign debt for her upcoming report on multiple crises, fiscal systems and human rights. The submission aims to address the current situation as a crisis of neo-liberal capitalism, white supremacy, colonialism and patriarchy, and calls for an intersectional approach to these crises, their causes and their human rights impacts.

SRI submission to the Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures: sanctions and the right to health

In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for input about unilateral coercive measures and the right to health, SRI made a submission examining unilateral sanctions ​​as forms of economic and racial injustice and imperial domination, and a violation of the right to development.

2022 In Review

As we embark on another year of activism for sexual rights, we wanted to share with you our highlights of 2022. While the UN human rights system continues to be confronted by multiple challenges –from funding shortages, geopolitical tensions and polarisation and attempts to undermine multilateralism to the presence and influence of regressive and conservative actors, we have made steadfast progress in advancing sexual rights in this system. Read below for our highlights of 2022.

Joint submission to the Working Group on discrimination against women and girls: poverty and inequality

SRI, IWRAW Asia Pacific and AWID made a joint submission in response to the Working Group’s call for inputs on “Human security of women and girls in the context of poverty and inequality.” The submission advocates for an economic justice approach and class analysis of poverty and inequality.

PRESS RELEASE: SRI Demands An End To The Genocide In Gaza And The Immediate Release Of All Global Sumud Flotilla Abductees

On 2 October 2025, several members of the Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) were kidnapped by Israel following an illegal interception of the flotilla boats in international waters. The Sexual Rights Initiative (SRI) joins the calls from activists around the world to demand an end to the genocide in Gaza and the immediate release of all Global Sumud Flotilla abductees

HRC 60: Joint Statement to item 9 on the Global Sumud Flotilla

Today, a few hundred ordinary people from 44 countries are sailing toward Gaza to break the siege and open a humanitarian corridor. Our action is rooted in the failure of states to stop the humanitarian catastrophe created by Israel and to end the genocide. Under international humanitarian law, our governments must protect us from any attack on the flotilla. The Human Rights Council must act with clarity and urgency and condemn Israel’s genocide, and call on all states to fulfil their legal obligations. This requires a full arms, trade, and cultural embargo on Israel, and concrete steps to end impunity for these crimes.

HRC 60: Joint Statement to the Interactive dialogue with the Expert Mechanism on the right to development

A solid people-centered approach to the right to development must challenge the dominant global economic paradigm and definition of economic growth, prioritise resource distribution within and between states. The Expert Mechanisms’ recognition of collective rights and responsibilities and systemic violations of human rights of people subjected to colonialism, as well as insistence upon accountability for international development policies, places them in a unique position to do so.

Statement to the OHCHR workshop on on promoting and protecting economic, social and cultural rights within the context of COVID-19: Session 2

The rising inequalities, made even starker due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, are a symptom of the failed economic system that prioritises profit over people and impoverishes people. It is very important to look at the impact of the erosion of public systems through privatisation and financialisation and resulting human rights violations and abuses. In particular, to delve deeper into why public health systems were woefully inadequate to deal with the Pandemic.

HRC 51 Statement to Panel discussion on the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights

Statement by the Sexual Rights Initiative, Al-Haq, IWRAW Asia-Pacific, ILGA and AWID on the Panel discussion on the negative impact of the legacies of colonialism on the enjoyment of human rights at the 51st session of the Human Rights Council.

SRI submission to the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health: racism and the right to health

In response to the Special Rapporteur’s call for inputs on racism and the right to health, SRI made a submission advocating for an analysis of racism and the right to health addressing both racism and colonialism as determinants of health and as structural violence.

What to Expect at the 36th Human Rights Council Session

The 36th session of the UN Human Rights Council will take place from the 11th to the 29th of September 2017. Find below information about anticipated sexual rights-related resolutions, panels and reports, UPR outcomes, and parallel events taking place during the 36th session.