On 16 November 2024, Wemos was present at the Afrikadag 2024, in Pakhuis de Zwijger, in Amsterdam. In our session, titled ‘Tax Wars: The Fight for Universal Healthcare and Financial Justice’, we discussed the profound impact of tax justice on human rights, including access to health, with a panel of experts.
The session started with a key cut of the documentary ‘Tax Wars’, an award-winning documentary film following experts advocating for fair tax policies to curb corporate greed and tax evasion. You can watch the full documentary here.
The live screening of this documentary formed a starting point for a lively discussion on tax-related illicit financial flows. These hamper domestic resource mobilization in many countries in Africa. The panel talked about the direct and indirect impacts they have on access to public services like healthcare. A special focus was put on the recent steps, led by African countries, to develop a UN framework convention on international tax cooperation. This is considered to be a promising, legally binding instrument in the fight to close public finance gaps.
We were honoured to have Everlyn Muendo (Tax Justice Network Africa) and Hege Dehli (Tax Wars director) on our panel. They emphasized the critical role of inclusive, effective and comprehensive international tax cooperation in efforts to close domestic public finance gaps.
Co-hosts Barbara Fienieg (Wemos), Arnold Merkies (Tax Justice NL) and Jan Schriefer (FNV) added their perspectives from their respective works in health and financial justice.
