A/73/396
Report of the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and
human rights
Summary
Privatization is generally presented as a technical solution for managing
resources and reducing fiscal deficits, but in fact, it is an integral part of an economic
and social philosophy of governance. Key international actors now promote it
aggressively without regard to its human rights implications or consequences, while
most human rights bodies have either ignored the phenomenon or assumed that
tweaking existing procedures provides an adequate response. Yet privatization often
involves the systematic elimination of human rights protections and further
marginalization of the interests of low-income earners and those living in poverty.
Existing human rights accountability mechanisms are clearly inadequate for dealing
with the challenges presented by large-scale and widespread privatization. Human
rights proponents need to fundamentally reconsider their approach.
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