Events

On March 20 from 12:00 to 14:30 we are going to have our first capacity building debate on tax justice, and more precisely on “Social justice, democracy and …taxes”. We have invited Francine Mestrum, who is a researcher specialisedid in globalization, poverty, inequality, development and global governance. She is scientific collaborator at ULB, Administrator of CETRI and member of the International Council of the World Social Forum.

During this lunch debate Francine Mestrum is going to highlight that we should use this current political, economic and social crisis to re-think the solidarity mechanisms we have been living with for decades, though we know perfectly well they are not enough to cope with today’s problems.

Poverty, inequality, environmental problems … but also democracy and tax justice are very much linked to each other. Inequality is one of the causes of poverty, we cannot preserve our environment if we do not care for the poor, we cannot take care of the poor if there is no fair taxation, and we will never have real democracy if not all people pay their fair share of taxes.

We have to examine, then, the direct links between taxes and democracy, taxes and social policies, the proposals for social protection systems (contributory and non-contributory), and look at the different levels, including the European Union, at which changes will be necessary. Some initiatives have already been taken, and tax justice is now on the agenda of several international organisations. But more can be done.

Please register at this doodle link by March 12. In the form, please specify your name, surname, organisation and if you are coming for lunch too. For more info, please contact Valentina Caimi.

To know more about the speaker, you can read here about her last book “Building another world: re-thinking social protection”.