A critical moment for global economic justice
At a time of deepening global crises—rising debt burdens, climate breakdown, and widening inequality—these conversations are not abstract. They are about whether governments can fund healthcare, education, housing, and care systems. They are about whether communities can live with dignity.
Across the CSPF, ESCR-Net members and allies are advancing a clear message: economic policy must serve people, not markets. From tax justice to debt relief, from feminist economies to climate finance, this week’s program reflects the urgency of transforming global financial systems that continue to deepen inequality and undermine human rights.
Full program: ESCR-Net members and allies at CSPF 2026
All times are in Washington, D.C. (EDT). Most sessions are accessible online via Zoom.
April 14
Making IMF Tax Policy Work for People
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 AM
Tax policy plays a central role in IMF surveillance and programs, with direct consequences for people’s lives. This session presents new research on IMF tax-related advice and conditionalities, along with updates on global tax developments, including the UN tax treaty, wealth taxes, and beneficial ownership. It also advances concrete proposals for building fairer, more progressive tax systems that enable governments to deliver on human rights.
Link: https://imf.zoom.us/j/96008309422?pwd=MCxnETIBlz8IzFJqWY9dR3j9iIoWNt.1
Organizers: Human Rights Watch, Tax Justice Network, Oxfam, GI-ESCR, Center for Economic and Social Rights; Dejusticia
Authorized to Rebuild? Who Governs Reconstruction in Conflict-Affected States in 2026?
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
Post-war reconstruction is increasingly shaped before rebuilding even begins. Security, fiscal reform, and “readiness” benchmarks are being integrated into a single framework that determines how economies are rebuilt and who benefits. Drawing on regional and global experiences, this session examines who sets these rules and presents civil society proposals for more equitable recovery pathways.
Organizers: Arab Watch Coalition; Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy; Malcolm H Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center; Arab NGO Network for Development; Arab Reform Initiative; The Centre for Social Sciences Research and Action; The Phenix Center for Economics & Informatics Studies; T.E.R.R.E. Liban; Human Rights Watch.
Strained Multilateralism: Post-Seville Commitments, IMF Responsibilities and a Rights-Aligned Economic Order
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
As global debt distress, climate crises, and inequality intensify, multilateral cooperation remains fragmented. This session examines the IMF’s responsibilities in this context, connecting post-Seville commitments on debt architecture, evolving global tax debates, and climate finance discussions. It highlights persistent gaps in the alignment of IMF policies with human rights, gender justice, and climate commitments, and explores pathways toward more coherent and accountable global governance.
Link: https://imf.zoom.us/j/98808219618?pwd=lDjbvXael8chymv6O2yhgxY4CQs3cJ.1
Organizers: Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR); MENA Fem Movement for Economic, Development and Ecological Justice; Human Rights Watch (HRW); Latindadd; Bretton Woods Project (BWP); Resilient40; Global Policy Forum Europe; Recourse; Eurodad; Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt and Development (APMDD); Initiative for Social and Economic Rights (ISER).
From “Unaffordability” to Rights: Claiming Fiscal Space for Universal Social Security
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
This session challenges the dominant narrative that universal social protection is unaffordable. It reframes social security as a rights-based obligation and explores how governments can expand fiscal space to fund inclusive and equitable systems that meet people’s needs.
Link: https://imf.zoom.us/j/96523144709?pwd=VE4gbr5Z7COeZOBCJE65GB69Vywbx5.1
Organizers: Act Church of Sweden; Arab Reform Initiative (ARI); ISER; Human Rights Watch (HRW); Bretton Woods Project; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors (GCSPF); International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); Global Call to Action Against Poverty (GCAP); The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy (TIMEP); Institute for Economic Justice (IEJ).
April 15
The IMF Review of Conditionality: Putting the IMF’s Money Where Its Research Is
Time: 2:00 – 3:30 PM
Although IMF research increasingly recognizes the harms of austerity and the benefits of progressive fiscal policies, these insights are rarely reflected in practice. This session uses country case studies to examine how conditionality could shift toward more context-sensitive, expansionary policies that better support economic stability and social outcomes.
Link: https://imf.zoom.us/j/96583048069?pwd=1too4ANRn0vC2OVqfkR6Y3WY1hrvza.1
Organizers: The Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy; Arab Watch Coalition; Global Social Justice; International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC); Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND); WEMOS; Third World Network; TA’AFI Initiative; Noria Research; Gherbal Initiative; Egyptian Front for Human Rights; MENA Fem Movement; Global Coalition for Social Protection Floors; Human Rights Watch; EuroMed Rights; Bretton Woods Project; Syrian Center for Policy Research; The Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance; Shirakat Foundation; Success Capital Africa; Malcolm H Kerr Carnegie Middle East Center; Refugee Platform in Egypt; Arab Reform Initiative; Al Bawsala; The Sanaa Center for Strategic Studies; Egyptian Human Rights Forum; The Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms; Recourse; Badil.
Also on April 15, the launch of the “Borrowers’ Club” in Washington, D.C., led by Global South countries including Zambia, marks a critical step toward strengthening coordination among borrowing nations. The initiative aims to enhance collective negotiation power, improve transparency, and ensure that countries facing debt challenges can advocate with a unified voice
April 16
Financing Caring Economies Beyond Extraction: Feminist Perspectives on Tax Justice, AI, and Development
Time: 11:00 AM – 12:30 PM
As artificial intelligence reshapes development narratives, it risks reinforcing extractive dynamics in the Global South. This session examines how global financial systems drain fiscal resources and shift care burdens onto women and marginalized communities, and explores how tax justice and feminist economic approaches can advance more equitable, care-centered economies.
Organizers: Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA); Bretton Woods Project (BWP); MENA Fem Movement for Economic, Development, and Ecological Justice.
Spillover Effects: The Fossil Fuel–Debt Trap in the Global South
Time: 3:00 – 4:30 PM
This session presents findings from research examining how sovereign debt and fossil fuel dependence are mutually reinforcing across countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Sri Lanka, Colombia, and Guyana. It highlights how these dynamics deepen economic vulnerability and environmental harm and discusses pathways to break this cycle.
Organizers: MENA Fem Movement; Fossil Fuel Treaty; Oil Change International; Recourse; Eurodad; Asian Peoples’ Movement on Debt & Development; Caribbean Policy Development Centre; Center for Egyptian Women’s Legal Assistance (CEWLA); Big Shift Global; Debt Justice Norway; Christian Aid.
April 17
Enabling Remedy: Strategies for the Effective Implementation of IFC’s Interim Remedial Action Framework
Time: 9:00 – 10:30 AM
One year after the introduction of the IFC’s Interim Remedial Action Framework, this session assesses its implementation and effectiveness. It brings together civil society experiences to examine whether the framework is delivering meaningful remedies for harm and what is needed to strengthen accountability.
Organizers: Accountability Counsel; African Coalition for Corporate Accountability (ACCA); Arab Watch Coalition; Bank Information Center; Recourse; Inclusive Development International.
How much debt relief is enough? Reimagining LIC-DSF for balancing fiscal space, development and climate
Time: 1:30 – 3:00 PM
As the IMF and World Bank review the Debt Sustainability Framework for Low-Income Countries, this session examines whether current models adequately reflect debt vulnerabilities and climate risks. It explores how the framework can be reimagined to ensure countries can achieve sustainable development without falling back into cycles of debt distress.
Link: https://imf.zoom.us/j/91094828943?pwd=iuJKmmFLugdNLFbG6iuCrJyC155btU.1
Organizers: EURODAD; Afrodad; MENA Fem Movement; Oxfam International; Wemos; Catholic Relief Services; ESCR-Net; Debt Justice Norway; Jubilee USA; SEATINI; Development Finance International; Bread for the World; Debt Justice UK; Recourse; Arab NGO Network for Development (ANND); ISER.
Beyond events: what’s at stake
These sessions are not just technical exchanges. They are spaces where competing visions of the future are being negotiated. Will global financial systems continue to prioritize austerity, debt repayment, and extraction? Or can they be transformed to support care, redistribution, and human dignity? Civil society is clear: the current model is failing.
The global economic system is not working for the majority of the world, but it can be transformed. This week is an opportunity to push for a different path—one where economies serve people, not the other way around.
Where debt does not come before dignity.
Where care is not treated as a cost.
Where human rights are not optional, but foundational.
Join the sessions. Amplify the demands. Help shift the narrative.
