Dhaka: Economic inequality contributes to financial crises and can undermine human rights, said the United nations independent expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky, presenting his latest report to the UN Human Rights Council.

The human rights expert said: ‘Inequality can erode the State’s tax base and increase private debt which affects sovereign debt and can undermine stability and lead to financial crises. Conversely, the social effect of financial crises can be catastrophic for the poor.’

There has been an unprecedented accumulation of wealth in recent years by a small but powerful elite: the 80 richest individuals are estimated to own as much wealth as the bottom 50 per cent of the entire world’s population, reports local news agency.

Global inequality is extremely high and still rising, according to a message received here from Geneva on Tuesday.

‘Austerity measures adopted in response to financial crises have pushed many individuals below minimum income levels,’ Bohoslavsky said adding, ‘and international human rights law has something to say about economic inequality.’

His report is clear that States have the obligation to prevent inequality undermining the enjoyment of human rights.

‘While human rights law does not necessarily imply a perfectly equal distribution of income and wealth, it does require conditions in which rights can be fully exercised. As a consequence, a certain level of redistribution is expected in order to guarantee individuals an equal enjoyment of the realisation of their basic rights,’ the expert noted.

In his report, Bohoslavsky offered a range of recommendations to tackle inequalities in the prevention of financial crises and in response to them.

These include financial market regulation, minimum wages, progressive taxation and social protection floors. ‘Structural adjustment programmes should be subjected to robust human rights impact assessments and not only orientated at short term fiscal targets to regain debt sustainability.’

Next to his report on inequality, the Independent Expert presented his final study on illicit financial flows, in which he focuses on the tax-related flows: tax evasion by high net-worth individuals, commercial tax evasion through trade misinvoicing and tax avoidance by transnational corporations.

In the study, Bohoslavsky argues that curbing illicit financial flows and tax abuse is essential not only for realizing human rights, but also for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.