Input to the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development
Study on Artificial Intelligence, Cultural Rights, and the Right to Development
South Centre
November 2025
The South Centre submitted an input to the Expert Mechanism on the Right to Development regarding the study on “Artificial Intelligence, Cultural Rights, and the Right to Development.”
As Artificial Intelligence (AI) rapidly evolves, it presents a complex challenge for the international community. While AI holds the potential to advance human progress, unregulated deployment threatens to exacerbate existing global disparities and endanger the realisation of the Right to Development (RtD).
Key Policy Highlights from the Submission:
Addressing the AI Divide: Low and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) face significant gaps in digital infrastructure and access to quality local datasets. To prevent the widening of global inequalities, governance frameworks must mandate technology transfer and capacity building without imposing restrictive intellectual property barriers.
Protecting Cultural Sovereignty: The mass accumulation of data by Generative AI models risks replicating historical patterns of “digital extractivism”. There is a need to increase transparency in training data protocols to prevent the misappropriation of traditional knowledge and cultural heritage.
Beyond Self-Regulation: Voluntary measures by the private sector lack essential mechanisms for external accountability and redress. A pragmatic regulatory approach is necessary: a legally binding global baseline for human rights accountability, complemented by flexible domestic regulations that preserve national policy space for local innovation.
To ensure AI serves humanity, the international community must move toward a governance model that guarantees global fairness, upholds human rights, and prevents market monopolisation by a few corporations.
Analysis of the European Union Proposal on the Pandemic Agreement Annex dated 17 October 2025
South Centre
This note is prepared to provide South Centre Member States and other developing country delegations with analytical comments on the proposal of the European Union (EU) on the Annex to the Pandemic Agreement, implementing the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) System as established in Article 12. The note begins with general commentary on the proposal, followed by detailed analysis of the EU proposal text, which is marked in red below the transcribed text.
South Centre Statement submitted to Session Three: A Fair and a Just Future for All:Critical Minerals; Decent Work; Artificial Intelligence
Dr. Carlos Correa, South Centre Executive Director, highlighted at the G20 Leaders’ Summit that while the world is transitioning to a critical mineral-intensive future, resource-rich poor countries are stuck at the bottom of the value chain. On AI, he stressed that the United Nations should continue to play an important role in shaping the international AI governance.
Participation of South Centre Member Countries in the WHO GLASS: Progress and Gaps in AMR Surveillance and Stewardship Efforts
By Dr. Rasha Abdelsalam Elshenawy
This study highlights antimicrobial resistance (AMR) surveillance challenges in LMICs, focusing on the 55 South Centre Member States’ enrolment in the WHO Global Antimicrobial Resistance and Use Surveillance System (GLASS). Despite progress since its 2016 launch, significant gaps persist: only 60 percent of South Centre Member States report AMR surveillance to GLASS, and just 38 percent report antimicrobial use (AMU) data to GLASS. The COVID-19 pandemic substantially disrupted surveillance activities, with rates declining from 2020-2021 compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels. Digital infrastructure, such as mobile reporting tools, cloud-based systems, and interactive dashboards, offers significant opportunities to strengthen AMR surveillance in resource-limited settings. The study recommends a holistic and phased approach for South Centre Member States, including developing integrated national AMR action plans with realistic implementation timelines, investing in laboratory and workforce development, establishing interoperable digital infrastructure, and strengthening regional collaboration mechanisms. By systematically addressing core surveillance challenges while strategically incorporating digital innovations where appropriate, countries can develop resilient monitoring systems that support effective stewardship, protect national populations, and contribute to global health security by preserving antimicrobial effectiveness for future generations.
Implementing Evidence-based Antimicrobial Prescribing to Combat AMR and Strengthen Global Stewardship – The GUIDE Framework in Action
Monday, 17 November 2025, 12:00-13:00 CET/11:00-12:00 UK/06:00-7:00 EDT/15:30-16:30 IST
Join us for the launch of a new evidence-based tool to enhance antimicrobial prescribing and stewardship. Share your feedback to help us strengthen its value and usability for global practice.
The GUIDE Framework for Evidence-based Antibiotic Prescribing
Strengthening Antimicrobial Stewardship for the Healthcare Workforce
By Dr. Rasha Abdelsalam Elshenawy
Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) poses a critical threat to global health security, with inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in hospitals driving the spread of resistant pathogens. This GUIDE Framework for Evidence-Based Antibiotic Prescribing provides a structured, five-step model designed to strengthen antimicrobial stewardship (AMS) and empower the healthcare workforce to make informed, proportionate prescribing decisions.
South Centre Statement to the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement
3 November 2025
This statement was delivered at the opening of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on the WHO Pandemic Agreement, third session, on 3 November 2025. The South Centre underscored that the first draft Bureau text helps to kick off text-based negotiations, but it does not meet the requirements for implementation of Article 12 of the Pandemic Agreement.
Co-organized by the National Commission on International Trade & Health Studies (NCITHS), Thailand together with the International Trade & Health Programme (ITH), South Centre & other partners
Advancing Responsible Foreign Investment through a Legally Binding Instrument on Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises
By Daniel Uribe Terán
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) presents a complex dynamic, offering potential economic growth while posing significant risks of human rights abuses and environmental degradation. This policy brief considers that current voluntary frameworks, such as Economic, Social, and Governance (ESG) and voluntary due diligence standards, are insufficient to protect human rights, as they primarily focus on mitigating investor financial risk rather than preventing actual harm. Furthermore, the international investment regime, particularly the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism, systemically undermines States’ sovereign right to regulate in the public interest. ISDS cases often penalise governments for enacting environmental, labour, and human rights protections, creating a “regulatory chill” that prioritises corporate profits over social welfare. The proposed Legally Binding Instrument (LBI) on business and human rights is presented as a necessary response to establish mandatory, enforceable obligations for corporations. This includes robust Human Rights Due Diligence (HRDD) and legal liability mechanisms, thereby rebalancing the system to ensure corporate accountability and align investment with sustainable development goals.
On September 24, 2025, two agreements were announced with generic drug manufacturers in India for the supply of generic lenacapavir at $40 (instead of the original $28,218) per patient per year. However, these generics can only be supplied to the countries included in Gilead’s voluntary license, excluding too many from accessing this price.
The negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System under the WHO Pandemic Agreement: State of Play as of September 2025
By Viviana Munoz Tellez, German Velasquez
The World Health Organization (WHO) Member States adopted a Pandemic Agreement in May 2025 but deferred negotiations on the critical Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing System (PABS). Despite the tight timeline, the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) has made minimal progress as of September 2025, with no draft text produced and formal negotiations yet to begin. The PABS system is essential for pandemic equity, balancing rapid pathogen sharing with equitable access to vaccines and treatments. But with the current approach to the IGWG process, without formal negotiations underway, Member States risk failing to finalize the PABS Annex by the March 2026 deadline.
