UFS ACADEMIC STRENGTHENS UN PRESENCE AS KEY VOICE ON DEVELOPMENT JUSTICE
24 June 2025 | Story Tshepo Tsotetsi
The University of the Free State (UFS) continues to cement its global footprint in the space of human rights and development policy. Prof Gerard Kamga, Associate Professor in the UFS’s Free State Centre for Human Rights and Programme Director for Research and Postgraduate Studies in the Faculty of Law, recently returned to Geneva to contribute to the 26th session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Working Group on the Right to Development, held from 12 to 15 May 2025.
This high-level session brought together diplomats, legal experts, and civil society leaders from across the globe to engage in structured dialogue around operationalising the right to development. Prof Kamga was among a select group of international experts invited to lead the conversation – this time delivering a focused intervention on the global challenge of illicit financial flows and their impact on the Global South.
Prof Kamga delivered a presentation titled ‘Draining Prosperity: How Illicit Financial Flows Undermine the Right to Development’, highlighting how the illegal movement of money out of Africa continues to weaken public services, entrench inequality, and cripple sustainable development efforts on the continent.
Citing that Africa loses an estimated $88.6 billion annually to illicit financial flows – about 3.7% of its GDP – Prof Kamga emphasised the direct link between financial injustice and underdevelopment. He also pointed out that commercial activities are the biggest drivers of these losses, accounting for 65%, followed by criminal activity and corruption. He stressed that these illicit outflows not only deprive countries of vital resources but also fuel poverty and political instability, referencing examples from Mali, Burkina Faso, and Guinea.
He also called for urgent global cooperation to repatriate stolen assets and enforce international agreements aimed at tackling corruption and tax avoidance. He encouraged the adoption of the draft international covenant on the right to development, stating that true progress requires systems that prioritise transparency, accountability, and social justice.
“Africa remains the continent that is more impacted by illicit financial flows, as the right to development remains unrealised for billions. My contribution as a staff member of the UFS to this global event was not only a potent reminder of academia’s role in global justice but, more importantly, it was a profound reminder of the complexities inherent in making the right to development tangible.”