Taxation

The book Taxation, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development - Global South Perspectives offers a profound interdisciplinary exploration of the intersection between fiscal policy, human rights, and sustainable development. It features a diverse range of contributors arguing that taxation must be understood not merely as a fiscal or economic mechanism for state revenue generation, but as a vital instrument of human rights fulfilment and social justice. The authors contend that tax systems embody the essence of a social contract, mediating the reciprocal obligations between the state and its citizens. At its core, the book asserts that States, bound by international human rights law and domestic constitutional commitments, have an obligation to design and implement fiscal systems capable of respecting, protecting and fulfilling rights. Taxation, therefore, becomes a moral and political process through which states mobilize resources to secure access to healthcare, education, infrastructure, and social protection.

The book is well written, structured, and displays depth of research into the nexus between taxation, socio-economic rights and sustainable development. The book underscores the importance of tax justice in attaining any meaningful and lasting development in the Global South. The book is of immense use not only to students and researchers but also to human rights groups, policy makers and the general public. Apart from the general introduction written as chapter one, the authors divide the book into three major parts with eleven chapters in total. The first part of the book discusses conceptualization and evolution of the role of human rights in taxation while the second part focuses on the role of various stakeholders in taxation. The third part explores the existing relationship between tax compliance and development. However, for ease of reference, I will take the liberty of appraising the book per chapter.

Emerging literature has established that there is a link between taxation and human rights. However, the nature of this link, the existence (or absence) of a coherent normative framework, and how taxation can be leveraged to foster the realization of socioeconomic rights have preoccupied the discussions in the literature. Notably, very few conversations in the literature have exclusively focused the discussion on taxpayers’ perspective in the global south. This is precisely the gap addressed by Taxation, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development: Global South Perspectives, edited by Eghosa O. Ekhator, Newman U. Richards, and Chisa Onyejekwe, and published by Routledge in 2025. As this review will demonstrate, this book makes a significant and timely contribution to the literature for several important reasons.

‘Taxation, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development- Global South Perspectives’ is an enjoyable and accessible read for those looking to understand more about domestic, regional, and international fiscal policy relevant to the human rights and sustainable development discourse.

Many discussions of human rights and economic policy feel aspirational, treating rights as guiding principles but stopping short of turning them into concrete legal or administrative action. The edited volume Taxation, Human Rights, and Sustainable Development: Global South Perspectives takes a different path. It digs into the hard work of turning human rights into working law and policy for taxation, viewed through experiences and priorities in the Global South.

Human rights play an integral role in State revenue sourcing and taxation in different parts of the world. For countries in the Global South, it should be an obligation to consider human rights in their tax policies and legislation as they need a sustainable revenue source to meet their socio-economic responsibilities (the welfare state) of which tax revenue is major slant. This goes to the foundations of a good tax system. Drawing lessons from the Global South, this book examines whether human rights can be invoked in the debate on creating effective tax regimes across the various jurisdictions.

The African Sovereign Debt Justice Network, (AfSDJN), is a coalition of citizens, scholars, civil society actors and church groups committed to exposing the adverse impact of unsustainable levels of African sovereign debt on the lives of ordinary citizens. Convened by Afronomicslaw.org with the support of Open Society for Southern Africa, (OSISA), the AfSDJN's activities are tailored around addressing the threats that sovereign debt poses for economic development, social cohesion and human rights in Africa. It advocates for debt cancellation, rescheduling and restructuring as well as increasing the accountability and responsibility of lenders and African governments about how sovereign debt is procured, spent and repaid. Focusing in particular on Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Nigeria and Senegal, the AfSDJN will also amplify African voices and decolonize narratives on African sovereign debt . Its activities include producing research outputs to enhance the network’s advocacy interventions. It also seeks to create awareness on and elevate the priority given to sovereign debt and other economic justice issues on the African continent and beyond throughout 2021.

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