A/HRC/50/60 Special procedures mandate holders have explained how the international development framework and its key institutions have neglected and exacerbated global inequalities, systemic human rights abuses and violations of the sovereignty of “underdeveloped” nations. 5 In the present report, the Special Rapporteur specifically uses the term “underdeveloped” to highlight the historical and contemporary structures of exploitation, extraction and destruction that entrap formerly colonized regions in conditions of impoverishment. As explained by Walter Rodney in his seminal book How Europe Underdeveloped Africa, “underdevelopment” is not the absence of development. The development of “developed” nations is built directly on the underdevelopment of nations widely referred to as “developing” nations. 8. A number of Special Rapporteurs have described the deleterious effects of the modern development framework on indigenous peoples.6 The Special Rapporteur on minority issues has reported on the exclusion of vulnerable minorities in national development activities, the role of the development framework in undermining human rights protections and the marginalization of minorities in the 2030 Agenda.7 The Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights and the Independent Expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order have explained how international economic and financial institutions perpetuate inequality between nations. They have critiqued structural adjustment programmes promoted by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), 8 trade liberalization 9 and often opaque global governance forums.10 A former Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights detailed the harms of neoliberalism and the failure of both the World Bank and IMF to operationalize international human rights principles.11 In particular, he noted the role of IMF in immiserating the living conditions of the poor12 and cautioned that references to gender, inequality and social protection would be meaningless without a genuine shift from the outmoded, modified neoliberal approach used by IMF.13 9. The Special Rapporteur builds upon prior analyses to highlight how the international development framework stands in fundamental tension with racial justice and equality both in relations among sovereign States and among individuals and groups within States. This tension is the product of global economic and political systems ridden with systemic racism, as evinced by the impact of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. 10. As highlighted by the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 between and within countries mirrors colonial hierarchies borne out of failures to redress the effects of racism rooted in slavery, colonialism and apartheid.14 The monopolized authority of “developed” nations to select and dictate the terms of “who is worth saving” cannot be decoupled from its colonial origins. Researchers have noted, for example, that the “map of winners and losers in the COVID-19 vaccination race appears almost indistinguishable from the map of European colonialism … Global health policy today remains rooted in colonial practices and epistemologies, and resource allocations continue to be determined by institutions located in the Global North.”15 11. The term “vaccine apartheid” aptly describes the regime that has been in place for much of the pandemic. Wealthy Governments have reaped the benefits of State-funded 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 4 See A/HRC/33/40, A/68/542, A/HRC/33/40, A/HRC/17/25 and A/76/162, para. 69. See A/HRC/24/41, A/HRC/33/42, A/HRC/36/46, A/69/267 and A/70/301. A/76/162. See A/HRC/37/54 and A/HRC/57. See A/65/260 and A/HRC/33/40. A/HRC/42/48. See A/70/274 and A/HRC/34/57. A/HRC/38/33, para. 4. Ibid., para. 58. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Statement on the lack of equitable and nondiscriminatory access to COVID-19 vaccines”, statement at the 106th session of the Committee (April 2022). Tammam Aloudat, Dena Arjan Kirpalani and Meg Davis, “Decolonisation and global health”, Geneva Graduate Institute, October 2021.