A strong statement by @commissionerhr.coe.int Michael O'Flaherty and UN Special Rapporteur @deschuttero.bsky.social on social rights and the fight against poverty
(in advance of the Council of Europe High-Level Conference on Social Rights in Chișinău this week)
www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
Merci à la section #LDH de #montceaulesmines pour son invitation le 21 février. Un temps d'échanges et de reflexion sur les droits humains comme outils de lutte contre les inégalités sociales. Merci à @sylvainaubry.bsky.social pour son intervention très riche et stimulante.
Farmers stand next to their tractor, piled high with raw cotton, outside the Fergana Region cotton collection point (ginnery) in September 2023.
“It is as if we have become hired workers for someone, not landowners” - a cotton farmer from the Khorezm region.
A new @hrw.org - @uzbekforum.bsky.social report examines the coercive state production system of cotton & wheat in #Uzbekistan.
More here: hrw.org/news/2026/02...
More worrying developments on the rule of law in Hungary.
“Shutting down court cases by decree is not how a democracy functions. This is the government telling the courts what they can address simply because it does not like the legal challenge or those bringing it.”
www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...
As the evidence points to the increasing need for a strong welfare state, the German government looks set to weaken social security protection and the safety net by reverting to a harsh, punitive, and less generous approach.
What do taxes have to do with human rights?
New York is hosting negotiations for a UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation this week. HRW's @sarahsaadoun.bsky.social explains more ⤵️
Children living near Ethiopia's largest gold mine have been exposed to toxic pollution. Next week, the UN Child Rights Committee, at its Ethiopia session, should push for the mine's suspension and an independent assessment.
www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...
New @hrw.org research out tomorrow on inadequate pensions and older people experiencing poverty in Hungary 🇭🇺
- interview testimony from older people 👵🏻👴🏻
- difficulties affording food 🍞🥩🍓☕, gas/electricity 🔌💡, medical supplies 💊🤕
- lots of graphs and charts 📊〽️
Media queries to @kooyjan.bsky.social
Zohran Mamdani explains that thousands and thousands of New Yorkers are already eligible for free and reduce public transportation, but because of the bureaucratic hurdles they never get enrolled in the program.
That's why he wants to just make the bus free.
Starting today, States are meeting in Kenya to negotiate enviro policies ahead of #UNEA7, incl. a key proposal by the Colombian government on environmental protection in mining.
This could open up the path to a new global mining, and bring real change.
www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...
❓ I’d love to hear from those who know these programs better...
Cloves’ story is a reminder that public policies grounded in rights ✊ — and a dose of political will — can change lives. 🌟
💭🏥 I haven’t studied these programs in depth, and I’m sure they’re imperfect. But think about it: a universal pension and regular health visits at home, even in the middle of the Amazon, by boat. Many wealthier countries struggle to achieve anything close this.
The aim is to reduce hospitalizations and improve access in remote areas by delivering care directly to families.
🏡👩⚕️This seems to be part of Estratégia Saúde da Família (Family Health Strategy), a federal program that brings primary care to remote areas through home visits by multidisciplinary teams.
🚑 That’s not all. As we prepared lunch, a nurse arrived by boat. She told me she visits Cloves and other families in the area at least once a month — more often if needed.
🌾💼This pension likely comes from “segurado especial”, a universal rural retirement scheme guaranteed by Brazil’s 1988 Constitution. It’s universal and not income-tested; it’s based on age and rural work history. And it’s paid by the national social security agency.
Enough to live decently, bathe in the river 🌊, grow food 🍌🥬, and play with his grandchildren 👨👩👧👦. In other words, to retire peacefully and happily, as he has the right to.
But here’s what surprised me: despite probably never having formal work registration, Cloves receives a pension equal to Brazil’s minimum wage — about R$1,518 per month (USD $282). 💡🇧🇷
🌾👴🏼👨👧👦 As he grew older, farming became hard. His children moved away. You’d think he’d be left struggling.
We stopped at our guide’s family home near Manaus, and that’s where I met Cloves: a man in his 70s, full of energy and smiles 😊. He never learned to read or write. He spent his life farming deep in the Amazon, hours by boat from the city 🚣♂️.
🌿 On my way to a personal trip to discover the deep Amazon jungle this week, I met Cloves — and little did I expect that his story would be a living testimony how social policies can transform lives...
Can’t wait until someone asks about the European Social Charter (1961) and the Revised European Social Charter (1996) are, and how those relate.
I’ll grab the popcorn🍿
HRW quote card that says, “The UK government’s decision to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.” Kartik Raj, Europe Senior Researcher
Good riddance to rubbish policy.
The end to the UK's "two child limit" social security policy has been announced, and it will soon be gone.
We @hrw.org welcome the news, as one of many, many, many voices calling for an end to this arbitrary, cruel social security policy.
There are solutions, now, to fund social AND climate priorities.
In the last 2 weeks, I saw first-hand in Nairobi how governments negotiating the UN tax convention could collaborate to raise trillions of dollars. And yet in Belém at #COP30 they pretend not having enough money.
There's enough money in the world to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels. This is why governments should support the UN Tax Treaty.
At #COP30, @sylvainaubry.bsky.social discusses the need for governments to finalize a UN Tax Treaty by 2027.
It's also a decision about finance. The decision clearly mandates the new mechanism to explore "measures that avoid exacerbating debt burdens and create fiscal space for countries to advance on pathways towards low emissions and climate-resilient development"
But we should not be mistaken: the decision on Just Transition is a not about transitioning to different car colours. It clearly is to transition away from fossil fuels, fair and fast. There is an agreement to move to clean economies.
#COP30's major limitations are 1) lack of mention of ambitions on fossil fuels phase out, and 2) not clear commitment to finance the transition...
