Global Alliance for Tax Justice’s regional network member in Latin America and the Caribbean, Red de Justicia Fiscal (RJFLAC) is partnering with the local chapter of the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) for a week of activism about #TaxJustice to #FundEducation.
GCE is a civil society movement “working to end the global education crisis”, its mission being “to make sure that States act now to deliver the right of everyone to a free, quality public education”. The week of action will include an event on June 12th in Lima, Peru and a week-long series of social media activism.
The event, titled “Equality of opportunities, with no tax contribution? More investment for public education!”, will be held by GCE chapter in Peru, Campaña Latinoamerican por el Derecho a la Educación (CLADE) and RJF, on the sidelines of Tax Justice Network’s annual conference with Latindadd, Paradise Lost?.
The event will “showcase experts who will present findings of the most recent studies as well as global information on how the public budget is related to tax and the human right to education”, within the framework of the commitment of the State of Peru with the 2030 Education Agenda.
CLADE, Latindadd and RJFLAC are also launching a package of communication materials and messages for dissemination through social networks. Drawn from concrete data and research, the infographics demonstrate the impact of tax injustice practices – evasion and avoidance – in the financing of education. Among the messages, it is stressed that developing countries lose 200 billion dollars a year due to the profit shifting from companies to tax havens, while 20% of this value would be enough to cover the lack of resources at the level global to guarantee 12 years of free public education for all. Likewise, every year, Latin America and the Caribbean lose more than 320 billion dollars through tax evasion: this sums up to 95% of what all the countries in the region invest in education.
“What is the relationship between the tax issue and our daily life?”, CLADE, Latindadd and RJFLAC ask: “Everything! Taxes are a crucial tool to combat inequalities, redistribute wealth and collect revenues for public spending in the realization of public policies aimed at guaranteeing human rights, such as health and education. But, this is only possible when the richest people and large companies pay their fair share of taxes, as long as the states make the wealth collected serve all the people and not the group with the most income of the population”.
“Defend tax justice is to question the current system of inequalities and ask ourselves how to achieve a just, egalitarian and dignified society based on tax collection and on States as guarantors of rights. We believe that with a progressive tax system -where those who have more, pay more- and oriented towards investing in human rights, we can make a difference”, says Adrián Falco, Technical Secretary of RJFLAC.
This initiative aims to sensitize members of the educational community and society in general, as well as to lobby the public authorities on the need to strengthen the financing of public education systems, ensure educational gratuity and have a fair and equitable tax system, that gives support and sustainability to the financing of the human right to education.
