This chapter identifies three key elements for effectively implementing the Covenants in times of financial crisis: a people-oriented, rights-based perspective, a process to foster coherence, and a new paradigm for bridging the gap between human rights and international financial regulations. It first analyses the anatomy of different types of financial crises from a rights-holder perspective and identifies the key actors and their potential impacts. It shows that, while financial crises share commonalities, their triggers, involved actors, and effects may vary substantially, leading to a complex web of relationships and responsibilities and norm fragmentation. This feeds into an expansion of focus from people to process and coherence with an analysis of the human rights responsibilities of international financial institutions and their members. The chapter concludes by suggesting translational human rights as a new paradigm for bridging the identified conceptual gaps and conflicting interests, and to pave the way for a more active role of the Covenants.
Extraterritorial human rights obligations and international financial institutions
