Hallway Talks with Former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights & Poverty, Philip Alston

NYU Law Professor Philip Alston draws on his decades-long experience in human rights, and explains why poverty is extremely political. We hear his views on the limitations of UN Sustainable Development Goals, and why technocratic economists are not the only experts we need to rely on, especially after COVID-19.  

This podcast episode features Alston’s take on how multilateral organizations should evolve, why climate change needs a bolder approach, and why the eradication of poverty  is not a priority of the elite power within global institutions. 

We end discussing Professor Alston’s adventures in a remote village in Papua New Guinea.

Guest Speaker:

Philip G. Alston’s teaching focuses primarily on international law, human rights law, and international criminal law. He co-chairs the NYU Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. In the human rights area, Alston was appointed in 2014 as the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights and has visited and reported on Chile, China, Mauritania, Romania, and Saudi Arabia. He was previously UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions from 2004 to 2010 and undertook fact-finding missions to: Sri Lanka, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Philippines, Israel, Lebanon, Albania, Kenya, Brazil, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, the United States, Albania, and Ecuador.

Photo Credit: Philip Alston, United Nations special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights. Photo by: Cia Pak / U.N.