Noboprobhaat Foundation submitted this contribution to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in response to the Call for Inputs on the realization of economic, social and cultural rights, with a special focus on the mobilization of public resources to finance sustainable development under Human Rights Council Resolution 58/9. Grounded in Noboprobhaat Foundation’s engagement with rural and socially excluded communities in Bangladesh, the submission explores how decisions about raising, allocating and using public resources ultimately shape people’s ability to access healthcare, education, social protection, livelihood opportunities and other essential economic and social rights. Drawing on Government policies and budgets, official national data, international institutional reports and community-based observations, it highlights both recent reforms and the continuing gaps between policy commitments, public expenditure and people’s lived access to services.

The submission argues that mobilizing more public resources is only part of the challenge; equally important is ensuring that those resources are raised fairly, allocated according to need and translated into measurable improvements in people’s lives. It examines domestic revenue mobilisation, tax expenditure, international public finance and debt, social protection, rights-based budgeting, transparency and public participation, while drawing attention to geographic inequality and barriers affecting communities experiencing poverty, discrimination and structural exclusion. It calls for more progressive and equitable resource mobilisation, sustained investment in essential services, stronger local-level allocation and monitoring, responsible use of international financing, and meaningful participation of affected communities and civil society throughout fiscal decision-making. Together, these measures can help ensure that Bangladesh’s public resources contribute not only to sustainable development in aggregate, but to the equitable realization of economic, social and cultural rights in practice.