On 26 August 2026, the Rio School on Global Governance, Democracy and Human Rights was honored to welcome Prof. Paolo de Renzio, Senior Adjunct Professor at the Escola Brasileira de Administração Pública e de Empresas of Fundação Getulio Vargas (FGV EBAPE). The course is held by the FGV Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence, co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme and directed by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida.

In his lecture, moderated by Prof. Paula Wojcikiewicz Almeida, Prof. de Renzio presented the role of public finance in the realization of human rights. He began by outlining the basic characteristics of human rights (for instance, their inalienable and indivisible nature) and the main legal instruments. He highlighted that their realization requires resources, which gives rise to tensions in the decision-making related to budget policies and how the government manages public resources.

Prof. de Renzio held that the public debate on public finance does not often include the impact on human rights. In his view, the main question is changing the terms of the discussion. There is too much emphasis on economic growth and fiscal deficit, as if those were the most important indicators of whether public finance is being managed well. However, for the professor, those are means, not ends. They key is to bring the core issues of human rights into the picture, beyond just abstract concepts of deficit and cutting spending.

We sincerely thank Prof. de Renzio for this informative class. We look forward to further collaboration.