Activities

2026

Statements

18 March 2026 
Social Rights: An Essential Component of the Fight Against Poverty - Joint Statement of the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights on the occasion of the Council of Europe High-Level Conference on Social Rights
English | Français

20 February 2026 
Special Rapporteur joins UNTFSSE and ILO-led Global Coalition for Social Justice to launch joint policy brief on the social and solidarity economy

2025

Statements

30 October 2025 
Statement welcoming the final draft of the Second World Summit for Social Development outcome document: the Doha Political Declaration

10 October
Updated contribution to the consultation on the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy 

17 June
Statement welcoming the final draft of the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development outcome document: Compromiso de Sevilla

4 April
Joint statement: All States must prioritise adoption of a living wage ahead of the Second World Summit for Social Development

12 March
Joint urgent call with ITUC for a Global Fund for Social Protection and strengthened international commitments at FFD4

11 February
Joint statement with USP2030: A call for action on financing social protection

17 January
Financing Social Protection Floors: Contribution of the Special Rapporteur to the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development (30 June – 3 July 2025)

Events

20 November         
The Open University Global Development Annual Lecture – Eradicating poverty without growth: can it be done?

13 November
We all Talk with UN Special Rapporteur: Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth

12 November
Side event à l’Assemblée nationale: Construire la sortie fossile

5 November
EAPN: Anti-Poverty Day 2025 at the European Parliament

4 November
WSSD2 side event: VENRO: Debt, Poverty & Human Rights: How to Reform the International Debt Architecture for Global Justice?

3 November
WSSD2 side event: Make Mothers Matter: Shifting the paradigm: care and support work and universal social protection at the heart of social development

27 October
FIDH: 42^nd Congress of the International Federation for Human Rights

17 October
International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

16 October
Council of Europe: Social Rights and the new EU Anti-Poverty Strategy         

9 October
OHCHR Expert Roundtable on Beyond GDP and Human Rights

7 October
Belgium peer review on “Elaborating, coordinating and monitoring a national strategy against poverty”

6 October
OHCHR Regional Office for Europe: A human rights-based approach to the EU Anti-Poverty Strategy

2 October 
 P4NE: Hope in a time of collapse

26 September 
Beyond Growth Conference Spain 2025

24 September
1st European Symposium on Povertyism

23 September 
Swedwatch webinar: Shifting power and funding rightsholder driven due diligence

16 September
ÖFSE – Austrian Foundation for Development Research: Towards ending child labour – where do we stand?

12 September
 Children’s Rights Alliance: End Child Poverty

26 August
HEC Paris 2025 Lecture: Olivier De Schutter – Growth, Inequalities, and Meritocracy

22 July
United Cities and Local Governments: Local governments for human rights

3 July
BIEN: Financing Basic Income for a Just Transition and Poverty Eradication

30 June
Skatteforsk - Tax Center: Rethinking Resource Mobilization to Finance Development: Progressive Taxation, Global Solidarity and Human Rights

23 June
Norwegian Beyond Growth Seminar

17 March
UN Women: Poverty eradication, social protection, and social services: Interactive dialogue at the Commission on the Status of Women

16 May
Impact Tank: Remaking the world: how to measure development, 10 years after the adoption of the SDGs

13 May
Human Rights Watch: The Gig Trap – Algorithmic, Wage and Labor Exploitation in Platform Work in the US

16 April
Semaine sociale du Moc: Living on Earth differently

15 April
Address by the Special Rapporteur to the Rapporteur Group on Democracy (GR-DEM) of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

10 April
Centre Universitaire Notre-Dame de Paix: Caring for People, Living Beings, and the Earth – Health in Transition for the Common Good

28 March
EAPN People's Summit: The EU Anti-Poverty Strategy: From Intention To Action

27 March
La Chambre des salariés Luxembourg: The burnout economy: Workplace suffering and mental health

27 March
Addressing homelessness in towns and cities (Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe

25 March
Faced with predatory capitalism, which path will ecology take? From the strategic State to the commons movement (University of Lille)

15 March
Université de la terre: Economy: How Can We Change Course

6 March
Where do we draw the line: exploring an extreme wealth line (LSE)

28 February
Development Co-operation in Times of Crises: 9th Trade Union-DAC Forum

11 February
Human Rights Council: Seventh Intersessional Meeting on human rights and the 2030 Agenda

5 February
European Parliament: Measuring What Matters – Redefining competitiveness for the prosperity of Europe

16 January
European Economic and Social Committee: Defining sustainable prosperity in the EU: towards indicators responding to citizen aspirations

Opinion/thought pieces

22 October 
Le Monde: Olivier De Schutter, UN Rapporteur on extreme poverty: “The stigmatization of people in poverty increases feelings of anxiety and economic insecurity”

22 October
EUobserver: Europe’s punitive welfare systems are fuelling the far-right 

15 October
Gobalynyt: UN Rapporteur: “Economic growth will not end poverty”

19 September
El Mundo: Let’s stop pretending economic growth will end poverty

18 July 
Common Dreams: Six Months Into His Presidency, Trump Has Created a Global Humanitarian Catastrophe

7 July
Socialprotection.org: Financing social protection in a post-aid world

2 July 
ARC 2020: Opinion: Europe Must End The Double Standards In Toxic Pesticides Exports

28 June
Le Monde: Opinion: "The European practice of manufacturing and exporting banned pesticides is a blatant violation of fundamental rights
Français

25 June 
Context News (Thomson Reuters Foundation): Opinion: As aid is cut, social protection is vital to face climate crisis

2 April 
D&C: Opinion: Time to set a limit on extreme wealth

15 March
LA Vanguardia: Opinion With Trump at the helm, the stakes couldn’t be higher at Seville finance summit

6 February
Devex: Opinion: $300B yearly to wipe out poverty is affordable. Here’s how

Interviews

9 November
BX1: Station Europe – Are social rights under threat in Europe and Belgium?

2 November
Le Vif: Olivier De Schutter: “Social protection is an investment” and a bulwark against the far right

22 October
Radio France: Culture de l’info: Social protection — a coalition of associations takes legal action against the State over RSA reform

22 October
The Wire: Global Rise of Right-Wing Populism is Linked To Decline in Social Protections: UN Special Rapporteur

22 October
Washington Post: The decline of the welfare state has boosted the rise of the far right

22 October
The Guardian: Welfare cuts have fuelled rise of far right and populism, top UN expert says

17 October
New Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Shared Goals podcast episode with UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty

12 October
Réforme: The need to measure social impact

10 October 
ÖFSE – Austrian Foundation for Development Research: Olivier de Schutter on progress and challenges in eradicating child labour within SDG 8.7

27 September
El País: Olivier de Schutter: “A 2% tax on billionaires would provide social protection for 820 million people in low-income countries”

25 September
La Opinión de Murcia: Olivier De Schutter: “The response to the rise of the far right should be to strengthen social policies”

24 September
ÖFSE – Austrian Foundation for Development Research: SDG 8.7: Far from a world without child labour

23 September
TV5 MONDE: Can the EU put pressure on Israel?

18 September
RTL Info: “Impose trade and diplomatic sanctions”: UN special rapporteur calls on the European Union to take a tougher stance with Israel

17 September
RTBF: Olivier De Schutter: The accusation of genocide in Gaza by the UN Commission of Inquiry will carry “significant weight”

6 September 
Just Europe: Fighting Poverty: work, wealth and the 1%

4 September
Al Jazeera: United Nations warns that time is running out to save civilians in southern Gaza

19 August
Franceinfo: Banned pesticides produced in France: “This is environmental racism,” denounces the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights

22 July
Radio France Internationale: Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur: “Famine officially declared in Gaza”

11 July
AlQahera News: UN Special Rapporteur on poverty: The situation in Gaza is catastrophic

30 June
La Libre: “Taxing the super-rich would make it possible to fund social protection for over 800 million people”

28 June
Frankfurter Rundschau: UN expert on humanitarian aid: “Trump’s withdrawal will cost 25 million people their lives”

25 June
La Vanguardia: UN rapporteur warns of “terrifying domino effect of cuts” to development aid that worsen poverty

20 June
Tankesmien Agenda: Poverty and extreme wealth with Olivier de Schutter

18 June
RTBF: Hello World: Should Belgium do more for Gaza?

1 June
Le Soir: Olivier De Schutter: In Europe we haven’t yet grasped the extent of the resentment that exists in the countries of the Global South

31 May
Radio France Internationale: Rwanda: strong growth but persistent inequalities, says UN rapporteur

31 May
The New Times: Set minimum wage to address in-work poverty — UN Special Rapporteur

31 May
France 24: Behind Rwanda’s economic ‘miracle’ rural poverty persists, UN expert reports

30 May
AFP: Behind Rwanda’s Economic ‘Miracle’ Rural Poverty Persists: UN Expert

30 May
Rwanda News Agency: “Rwanda’s current challenge is to lift the 3.6 million of its population still living below the poverty line” – UN Expert

27 April 
Radio France Internationale: Gaza: “A genocide is unfolding before our eyes”

24 March 
Virgule: Burnout: “We could change the law so that employers could no longer impose zero-hours contracts”

28 February
Circular Metabolism: Why are wealthy countries depressed?

12 January
Greenletter Club: Why is poverty humiliating?

2024

Statements

24 October
Statement on the Second World Summit for Social Development (November 2025)

17 October
Statement on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty: International financial system ‘not fit for purpose’ to address catastrophic debt crisis: UN poverty expert

15 October
Statement on the future EU Anti-Poverty Strategy

9 February
Tool for the Inclusive and Deliberative Elaboration & Evaluation of Policies (IDEEP)

Events

13 December
Alter Kapitae: Towards a new relationship with work, the land and happiness

12 December
Council of Europe: Social Rights are Human Rights

11 December
OHCHR: The role of human rights in the 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4)

29 November
Commons Network: Roundtable on postgrowth

26 November
Belgium Federal Public Service: A Climate-Proofed Social Protection

22 November
Centre for Homelessness Impact Research Network: Evidence for ending the criminalisation of homelessness

21 November
WageIndicator Foundation: Democratizing Work and Building Sustainable Futures

19 November
“Hope by UNICEF” Childhood Forum: Overcoming poverty

6 November
German Institute of Development and Sustainability: Development Beyond Growth - Global and Local Perspectives on Just Transitions

1 November
Human Rights Council Social Forum: Leveraging Private Business and Finance for the Alleviation of Global Poverty

31 October
French National Assembly: Growth – promise or illusion?

30 October
OHCHR: Tenth session of the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development

29 October
Parliament of Navarra, Spain: Fight against poverty and social exclusion

17 October
End Child Poverty: Restoring Dignity: Tackling Shame and Stigma in Social Protection for Children and Families

21 September
Oxfam: Transforming Economies beyond GDP: towards a caring and feminist future with people, wellbeing and planet at the centre

11 September
Human Rights Consortium Scotland: Olivier De Schutter Address to Scotland’s Annual Human Rights Conference

12 July
Human Rights Watch: Moving Beyond GDP Towards a Human Rights Economy

11 July
Mothers, unpaid care work and global crises – Connecting the dots

3 July
Human Rights Council Side Event: Participation of people in poverty: The secret weapon in the fight against poverty

25 June
Human Rights Council Side Event: Breaking the cycle: Ending the criminalisation of homelessness and poverty

13 June
European Commission: Third meeting of the National Coordinators of the European Child Guarantee

24 May
UCLouvain: Beyond GDP: Alive and kicking?

21 May
EAPN: V European Congress Against Poverty and Social Exclusion

30 April
University of Essex: The Realisation of Human Rights in Societies Beyond Growth

20 March
Human Rights Council Side Event: Eradicating poverty beyond GDP: Preparing for the next development goals

19 February
Council of Europe: Social justice in action: Breaking the perpetuation of poverty across generations

15 February
World Bank: Addressing the Hidden Dimensions of Poverty in Knowledge and Policies

6 February
ATD Fourth World: Eliminating Inequity and Systemic Exclusion: A Rights-based Approach to Social and Economic Policy Justice

Opinion/thought pieces

7 November
Project Syndicate: Inequality Is Destroying Mental Health

21 October
Social Europe: Can Universal Basic Income really improve mental health? The surprising results are in

28 September
Le Monde: We reject the idea that we need to choose between fighting poverty and respecting planetary limits

20 September
Context News (Thomson Reuters Foundation): Going beyond growth – a key step in battle against poverty

17 July
OECD Development Co-operation Report 2024: In my view: Human rights, not gross domestic product, must be our guiding star

2 July
The Guardian: Obsession with growth is enriching elites and killing the planet. We need an economy based on human rights

9 May
The Irish Times: Povertyism needs to be taken as seriously as racism and sexism

13 February
World Bank Voices: Unveiling blind spots and critical insights to fight poverty effectively

Interviews

27 December
Syre: UN poverty expert on basic income: ‘We need to have much more imagination’

19 December
Asian Insider: Mountains of debt deepening human and environmental crises

20 November
Socialter: “The belief that progress in GDP coincides with an improvement in people’s lives is simply not true”

13 November
UN Web TV: Growth obsessed societies are fueling anxiety and depression

29 October
Population Balance: The Poverty of Growth

22 September
Público: Is the world ready for a real Pact for the Future?

18 September
L’actu ES: The social economy, a driving force behind an inclusive post-growth society

12 September
El Tiempo: “Lasting peace in Colombia requires tackling poverty”: Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur

10 September
Bonjour Demain: Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur

4 September
AP: Colombia is in a vicious cycle between armed conflict and peace, warns UN expert

4 September
Reuters: Colombia’s economic segregation makes peace unattainable, UN envoy says

3 July
Oxford Human Rights Hub: Eradicating Poverty Beyond Growth with Olivier De Schutter

18 June 
Arbeit & Wirtschaft (in German): Working yet poor: A threat to human rights

29 May
International Bar Association: Poverty: UN Rapporteur calls on governments to pursue ‘triple dividend measures’

28 May
El País: Olivier de Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty: “I am very concerned about austerity returning to Europe”

24 May
Macrodose: The Poverty of Growth w/ Olivier De Schutter

7 May
SciLux: Child poverty

26 April
TaxCast Norway: Extreme poverty and economic growth w/ Olivier De Schutter

14 February
Circular Metabolism Podcast: Why growth creates poverty

See Previous activities, 2014-2023