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Sylvain Aubry

@sylvainaubry.bsky.social
374 followers 291 following 71 posts

Demanding climate and economic justice & quality public services Deputy Director Economic Justice & Rights @Human Rights Watch Teaching @sciencespo Formerly @GIESCR @RTE Fr/Eng

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Reposted by Sylvain Aubry
Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 06/07/2026
Hungary's new government is taking its first steps to address low pension levels and rising poverty among older people. I argue here that these announcements are positive, but that deeper pension reform should follow. Thanks @mercehu.bsky.social for the HU version. www.hrw.org/news/2026/07...
hrw.org
Hungary: New Government’s First Step on Pensioner Poverty
Prime Minister Péter Magyar is moving swiftly with policy measures and legislative reform that will hopefully have positive impacts on people’s lives and rights. On May 25, he announced in an intervie...
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 01/07/2026
Just published for @hrw.org in @mercehu.bsky.social, an op-ed on the important first steps that the new Tisza government has taken on improving pensions and old age poverty, and the hard work that lies ahead for a fundamental overhaul of pensions. merce.hu/2026/07/01/n...
merce.hu
„Nincs reményem a jövőre nézve. Így fogok élni életem végéig” – alapjaiban kell megváltoztatni a nyugdíjrendszert « Mérce
Mélyrehatóbb nyugdíjreformra van szükség.
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Zama Neff @zamahrw.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
With record-level abuses against children in war, many countries are working together to hold abusers to account. Still a long way to go for an effective crimes against humanity treaty, but growing support to include justice for crimes against children www.hrw.org/news/2026/06...
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 04/06/2026
1/4 Good news from Hungary. Prosecutorial authorities have dropped charges against people linked to organizing Pride 2025 events in Budapest and Pécs, who were facing prosecution including on evidently spurious "child protection" grounds. ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🩷🩵🤍🤎 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 21/05/2026
Job opportunity: campaigner on "everyday rights" at @amnestyuk.bsky.social -- or economic, social, and cultural rights. Part-time (21 h/w), fixed-term (until May 2027) Deadline June 15. See amnestyuk.ciphr-irecruit.com/applicants/v...
amnestyuk.ciphr-irecruit.com
Amnesty International UK Careers | Campaigner (FTC)
More details can be found by downloading the job description from our careers portal.
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 21/05/2026
Super interesting initiative in Germany @fian-international.bsky.social -- people and farmers with experience of poverty working together: www.fian.de/aktuelles/pr... (learned about it from @why-not.eurosky.social, who you should follow if you're interested in Germany poverty/social security things)
fian.de
Pressemitteilung - Neue Allianz: armutserfahrene Menschen und Bäuer*innen arbeiten zusammen - FIAN Deutschland e.V.
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 20/05/2026
We @hrw.org support this initiative led by friends at @justfairuk.bsky.social and the UK ESCR Network to draw attention to unfulfilled economic, social, and cultural rights promises in the UK. The UK government ratified the ICESCR 50 years ago. It is still not incorporated in domestic law.
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 18/03/2026
A strong statement by @commissionerhr.coe.int Michael O'Flaherty and UN Special Rapporteur @deschuttero.bsky.social on social rights and the fight against poverty (in advance of the Council of Europe High-Level Conference on Social Rights in Chișinău this week) www.coe.int/en/web/commi...
coe.int
Social Rights: An Essential Component of the Fight Against Poverty - Commissioner for Human Rights - www.coe.int
Chișinău, Republic of Moldova 18 March 2026
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Nathalie Tehio @nathalietehio.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Merci à la section #LDH de #montceaulesmines pour son invitation le 21 février. Un temps d'échanges et de reflexion sur les droits humains comme outils de lutte contre les inégalités sociales. Merci à @sylvainaubry.bsky.social pour son intervention très riche et stimulante.
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Mihra Rittmann @mihrarittmann.bsky.social · 17/02/2026
“It is as if we have become hired workers for someone, not landowners” - a cotton farmer from the Khorezm region. A new @hrw.org - @uzbekforum.bsky.social report examines the coercive state production system of cotton & wheat in #Uzbekistan. More here: hrw.org/news/2026/02...
Farmers stand next to their tractor, piled high with raw cotton, outside the Fergana Region cotton collection point (ginnery) in September 2023.
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 12/02/2026
More worrying developments on the rule of law in Hungary. “Shutting down court cases by decree is not how a democracy functions. This is the government telling the courts what they can address simply because it does not like the legal challenge or those bringing it.” www.hrw.org/news/2026/02...
hrw.org
Hungary: Blocking Lawsuits Undermines Rule of Law
Hungary’s government dealt a severe blow to the rule of law by issuing a decree that terminates ongoing court cases challenging a tax on municipalities, Human Rights Watch said today. The move sets a ...
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 03/02/2026
As the evidence points to the increasing need for a strong welfare state, the German government looks set to weaken social security protection and the safety net by reverting to a harsh, punitive, and less generous approach.
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Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · 03/02/2026
What do taxes have to do with human rights? New York is hosting negotiations for a UN Convention on International Tax Cooperation this week. HRW's @sarahsaadoun.bsky.social explains more ⤵️
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Juliane Kippenberg @jkippenberg.bsky.social · 22/01/2026
Children living near Ethiopia's largest gold mine have been exposed to toxic pollution. Next week, the UN Child Rights Committee, at its Ethiopia session, should push for the mine's suspension and an independent assessment. www.hrw.org/news/2026/01...
hrw.org
Children Affected by Ethiopia Mine Pollution Need Justice
People living near Lega Dembi gold mine in Ethiopia’s Oromia region have for years complained about serious health impacts, including children born with long-term health conditions, miscarriages, and ...
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 13/01/2026
New @hrw.org research out tomorrow on inadequate pensions and older people experiencing poverty in Hungary 🇭🇺 - interview testimony from older people 👵🏻👴🏻 - difficulties affording food 🍞🥩🍓☕, gas/electricity 🔌💡, medical supplies 💊🤕 - lots of graphs and charts 📊〽️ Media queries to @kooyjan.bsky.social
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 07/01/2026
One for most devoted human rights law nerds: www.hertie-school.org/en/news/deta...
hertie-school.org
Vote for the Best United Nations Treaty Body Decision of 2025!
Our researchers invite you to take part in selecting the best UNTB decision of 2025, following the second run of the poll in 2024.
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More Perfect Union @moreperfectunion.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
Zohran Mamdani explains that thousands and thousands of New Yorkers are already eligible for free and reduce public transportation, but because of the bureaucratic hurdles they never get enrolled in the program. That's why he wants to just make the bus free.
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Reposted by Sylvain Aubry
Juliane Kippenberg @jkippenberg.bsky.social · 01/12/2025
Starting today, States are meeting in Kenya to negotiate enviro policies ahead of #UNEA7, incl. a key proposal by the Colombian government on environmental protection in mining. This could open up the path to a new global mining, and bring real change. www.hrw.org/news/2025/12...
hrw.org
An Opportunity to Address Mining Abuses Globally
When 29-year-old Norbert Amoya went to fetch water from a river in northern Zambia earlier this year, he found large numbers of dead fish and the water had a strange smell. The cause was a major minin...
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
❓ I’d love to hear from those who know these programs better...
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Cloves’ story is a reminder that public policies grounded in rights ✊ — and a dose of political will — can change lives. 🌟
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
💭🏥 I haven’t studied these programs in depth, and I’m sure they’re imperfect. But think about it: a universal pension and regular health visits at home, even in the middle of the Amazon, by boat. Many wealthier countries struggle to achieve anything close this.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
The aim is to reduce hospitalizations and improve access in remote areas by delivering care directly to families.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
🏡👩‍⚕️This seems to be part of Estratégia Saúde da Família (Family Health Strategy), a federal program that brings primary care to remote areas through home visits by multidisciplinary teams.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
🚑 That’s not all. As we prepared lunch, a nurse arrived by boat. She told me she visits Cloves and other families in the area at least once a month — more often if needed.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
🌾💼This pension likely comes from “segurado especial”, a universal rural retirement scheme guaranteed by Brazil’s 1988 Constitution. It’s universal and not income-tested; it’s based on age and rural work history. And it’s paid by the national social security agency.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
Enough to live decently, bathe in the river 🌊, grow food 🍌🥬, and play with his grandchildren 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦. In other words, to retire peacefully and happily, as he has the right to.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
But here’s what surprised me: despite probably never having formal work registration, Cloves receives a pension equal to Brazil’s minimum wage — about R$1,518 per month (USD $282). 💡🇧🇷
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
🌾👴🏼👨‍👧‍👦 As he grew older, farming became hard. His children moved away. You’d think he’d be left struggling.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
We stopped at our guide’s family home near Manaus, and that’s where I met Cloves: a man in his 70s, full of energy and smiles 😊. He never learned to read or write. He spent his life farming deep in the Amazon, hours by boat from the city 🚣‍♂️.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 30/11/2025
🌿 On my way to a personal trip to discover the deep Amazon jungle this week, I met Cloves — and little did I expect that his story would be a living testimony how social policies can transform lives...
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 30/11/2025
Can’t wait until someone asks about the European Social Charter (1961) and the Revised European Social Charter (1996) are, and how those relate. I’ll grab the popcorn🍿
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 26/11/2025
Good riddance to rubbish policy. The end to the UK's "two child limit" social security policy has been announced, and it will soon be gone. We @hrw.org welcome the news, as one of many, many, many voices calling for an end to this arbitrary, cruel social security policy.
HRW quote card that says, “The UK government’s decision to end the cruel "two-child limit” social security policy is welcome and long-overdue. It forced growing numbers of children and families into poverty and undermined their rights.”
Kartik Raj, Europe Senior Researcher
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 24/11/2025
There are solutions, now, to fund social AND climate priorities. In the last 2 weeks, I saw first-hand in Nairobi how governments negotiating the UN tax convention could collaborate to raise trillions of dollars. And yet in Belém at #COP30 they pretend not having enough money.
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Human Rights Watch @hrw.org · 24/11/2025
There's enough money in the world to accelerate the phase out of fossil fuels. This is why governments should support the UN Tax Treaty. At #COP30, @sylvainaubry.bsky.social discusses the need for governments to finalize a UN Tax Treaty by 2027.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
It's also a decision about finance. The decision clearly mandates the new mechanism to explore "measures that avoid exacerbating debt burdens and create fiscal space for countries to advance on pathways towards low emissions and climate-resilient development"
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
But we should not be mistaken: the decision on Just Transition is a not about transitioning to different car colours. It clearly is to transition away from fossil fuels, fair and fast. There is an agreement to move to clean economies.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
#COP30's major limitations are 1) lack of mention of ambitions on fossil fuels phase out, and 2) not clear commitment to finance the transition...
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
It clearly recognises of the rights to health, a healthy environment, social security, development, and labour rights, directly quoting ILO standards, as well as the rights of Indigenous Peoples and other groups, and highights the centrality of workers, and of the care economy.
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Particularly remarkable at COP is the centrality of human rights in the decision: unfccc.int/sites/defau.... It recognises the importance of "just transition pathways that respect, promote and fulfil all human rights and labour rights".
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 22/11/2025
Groundbreaking #COP30: amidst a pretty disappointing conference, a cheering and clapping room adopted a Just Transition resolution that contains the strongest human rights language at COP, and create a mechanism to follow on just transition. Social justice now has a home at COP.
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Caroline Brouillette @carobrouillette.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
Movement from 🇨🇦 in #COP30 High-Level Ministerial Round Table on Just Transition!!! 💥 Canada is "open to options that strengthen the contribution of the UNFCCC to the broader just transition discussion, without duplicating existing work and works towards the Paris agreement temperature goal."
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Why is making the transition away from fossil fuel just one of the key items at #COP30? How can human rights help move to a carbon-free economy as quickly as possible? My colleague Jim Wormington and I from the Economic Justice team at HRW discuss it in less than a minute here x.com/hrw/status/...
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 10/11/2025
The 2nd round of UN Tax Convention talks starts today in Nairobi, Kenya, potentially unlocking trillions of dollars. Holding these negotiations in Africa itself is a key step towards decolonizing international law. With nearly 100 CSO representatives , the world is watching!
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Sylvain Aubry @sylvainaubry.bsky.social · 07/11/2025
This week world leaders made commitments to fulfil rights at #WSS2. But this won’t happen without money. We’re now looking at Nairobi where the UN Tax Convention #UNTC negotiations are resuming on Monday - it could be the key to deliver on those commitments. www.hrw.org/news/2025/11...
hrw.org
World Leaders Commit to Supporting Social Development and Rights
At the second United Nations Social Summit in Qatar this week, dozens of governments adopted the Doha Political Declaration, renewing their commitments to tackle poverty, create decent work, combat di...
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Jan Kooy @kooyjan.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
🚨Human Rights Watch just published a new 101-page Sri Lanka report 'Tax Giveaways, Struggling Schools'. A panel of experts will discuss the findings from 16:00 local time in Colombo (12:30 CET), with an introduction by @fborello.bsky.social. Live-stream⤵️ www.facebook.com/neelantiruch...
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Hanan Salah @hanansalah.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Morocco's youth have clear-cut demands for better healthcare, education & end to corruption. If the government can fund state-of-the art stadiums, it can afford to fund its healthcare. Calls for reform should not be met with repression, lethal force @hrw.org www.hrw.org/news/2025/10...
hrw.org
Morocco: Protests Met with Repression, Violence
Moroccan authorities have cracked down on youth-led protests demanding sweeping reforms to public services, resulting in deaths and mass arrests.
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 09/10/2025
The German government's plan for social security "reform" is bad news for #humanrights. I tried to set out why for @hrw.org here, a couple of weeks back, as we awaited details of these plans: www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...
QUOTE CARD with text
“The German government’s plans to punish some social security recipients with severe cuts to support demonstrates contempt for their human rights. This harsh approach will increase poverty, erode social cohesion, and push many into destitution." 
Kartik Raj, Senior Europe Researcher
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 09/10/2025
I am reading reports that the German coalition has agreed the main parts of its welfare "reform" package. Details still emerging. This shift toward a more punitive logic and harsher sanctions will come at the cost of human rights. I explain more in this recent piece. www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...
hrw.org
Rights Should Guide Welfare ‘Reform’ Debate in Germany
The partners in Germany’s governing Christian Democrat-Social Democrat coalition have been sparring over the contents of a planned replacement of the Citizen’s Income social security benefit, with a “...
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 02/10/2025
Learn more about the UK Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Network here. It may be relevant to your work and something for you or your organization to join.
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Kartik Raj @kartikraj.eurosky.social · 02/10/2025
One to watch for the ESCR nerds out there. The first complaint from Germany to the UN CESCR, since the country relatively recently (Apr 2023) accepted the Optional Protocol to the ICESCR. Focused on withdrawal of benefits from some asylum-seekers. ⬇️
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