Bangladesh urges rights-based economic policymaking at UN

Bangladesh has called for placing human rights at the centre of economic policymaking and governance, stressing that progress must be measured by its contribution to equality, human dignity and fundamental rights, alongside growth.

Bangladesh's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ambassador Irene Zubaida Khan made the call at a high-level dialogue titled "The Political Economy of Human Rights" at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday, according to a press release received here.

She emphasised the need for equitable taxation, affordable development financing, debt sustainability and reform of the international financial architecture to help ensure economic progress advances human rights.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk highlighted growing concentrations of economic and political power, rising military expenditure, mounting debt burdens and widening inequalities as factors undermining human rights.

Speakers called for a fairer international tax system, equitable debt restructuring, accountable economic governance and meaningful civil society participation to address structural inequalities and protect vulnerable communities.

The discussions examined how conflicts, excessive debt-servicing costs and declining development assistance constrain investment in education, healthcare, social protection and sustainable peace.

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The dialogue brought together Ambassadors Omar Hilale of Morocco, Laura Dupuy Lasserre of Uruguay, Mxolisi Nkosi of South Africa and Stavros Lambrinidis of the European Union, alongside human rights expert Ignacio Saiz, Professor Sakiko Fukuda-Parr and UN Independent Expert Attiya Waris.

Jointly organised by the permanent missions of Bangladesh, Morocco, South Africa and Uruguay, the event underscored the need to embed human rights principles in international economic governance and global development frameworks beyond 2030.