Background

Pursuant to Human Rights Council resolution 52/17, the United Nations Independent Expert on foreign debt, other international financial obligations and human rights, Ms Attiya Waris will undertake a country visit to Angola from 8 to 17 July 2024 at the invitation of its Government. Her visit will focus, in accordance with her mandate, on a wide range of issues related to illicit financial flows, fiscal affairs, debt and their implications on human rights. She aims to acquire on-site knowledge on the issues related to her mandate and provide insights and recommendations to the Government and other stakeholders.

A report summarizing the visit and including recommendations will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council in March 2025.

Ms Attiya Waris was appointed Independent Expert on foreign debt, other international financial obligations and human rights by the Human Rights Council in its 46th session. She took her position on 1 August 2021.

The Independent Expert invites all stakeholders to provide views, documentation, analysis and relevant information to inform the preparation of her visit to Angola. In particular, she invites academics, non-governmental organizations and networks, trade unions, think tanks, international financial institutions and UN entities, as well as individuals, to provide inputs.

Contributions should be concise and address the specific issues of the mandate of the Independent Expert, such as:

Questions

Issues related to debt management, sustainability and debt restructuring

• Information and analysis related to financial assistance, debt restructuring, debt sustainability and negotiations with international financial institutions and creditors, including private creditors, and their impacts on human rights, in particular economic, social, cultural and environmental rights;
• Effects of foreign debt on the realization of human rights, in particular economic, social, cultural and environmental rights, at central, provincial, or municipal levels;
• Information on monetary, economic and fiscal policy and reforms – in particular on revenue, taxation, social expenditure, public debt management, and more generally the use of maximum available resources for the realization of human rights – and their impacts on foreign and debt, and on progress towards achievement of SDGs;
• Impacts of economic policies on people in situation of vulnerability and marginalized individuals and groups, both in urban and rural areas of the country. Issues related to inequalities among groups and/or regions;
• Issues related to public spending and investment in the health, social protection, labour, and education sectors, especially in relation to the situation of women, and children at central, provincial and municipal levels. Budget analysis of social sectors if available.

Developments in Banking and Finance

• Information on issues related to Illicit financial flows and corruption; access to information, accountability and transparency mechanisms in this domain;
• Information about access to information on financial and fiscal issues at the central, provincial, and municipal levels, with relevant disaggregation and, when possible, periodicity;
• Information on efforts to prevent and combat illicit financial flows (such flows can be related to tax evasion and avoidance by individuals and business enterprises, to corruption or to other criminal activities, such as money laundering, trafficking of human persons or narcotics, illicit arms trade or financing of terrorism);
• Information on cross-border cooperation on detecting crimes through financial intelligence, asset recovery, and other such initiatives;
• Information on financial transparency and regulation in relation to anti-money laundering/ corruption and anti-tax avoidance laws, accountability and public participation;
• Issues related to illicit financial flows, national tax structure (including any tax incentives/exemptions provided to corporates, sectors), accountability and transparency mechanisms in this domain (access to information on financial and fiscal issues with relevant disaggregation and, where possible, periodicity);
• Information related to the effect of illicit financial flow, tax and debt, and debt repayment on the lives of children and the type of financial support services targeted towards children and their healthy growth and development as well as their right to education.

Debt, climate change and human rights

• Impact of climate change, on the realization of human rights of all;
• Progress and policies towards mitigation and adaptation of climate change and protection against its negative impact;
• Information on any steps taken to integrate gender and human rights-based approaches in economic and fiscal policymaking, and in policies and programmes on disaster risk reduction and climate change;
• Information related to debt-for-environment swaps and climate-related loans or funding;

Other

• Please provide any other information, documents or background materials that may be relevant for the mandate.

How inputs will be used

Your responses will be kept confidential. Neither you nor your organization will be identified, and your submission will not be attributed to you or your organization.