Research areas
Rachel Etter-Phoya is research fellow with the School of Medicine. She is also senior researcher with the Tax Justice Network.
Rachel studies the global influences on government revenue and its impact on development and human rights. She is particularly interested in the impact of the extractive industries on governance and revenue and the outcomes for fundamental rights in Africa.
As part of the Government Revenue and Development Estimations GRADE project team, she looks at the influence of tax revenue and debt servicing on access to fundamental rights, especially for children. These include the right to water and sanitation, education and healthcare.
Rachel has worked for 15 years in Malawi, where she grew up, in governance and revenue reform. She has worked with the Revenue Development Foundation in the Ministry of Energy, Natural Resources and Mining in Lilongwe, human rights organisation Citizens for Justice, Save the Children, and the German development agency (GIZ) public financial management programme in Malawi.
Rachel is an associate with Resources for Development and serves as an mining and natural resource governance advisor for several British government financed programmes in Malawi.
Rachel holds a Master of Laws in Natural Resources Law and Policy (Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, UK), a Master of Science in International Rural Development (Royal Agricultural University, UK), and a Bachelor of Arts in Anthropology and English (University of Zurich, Switzerland).
Selected publications
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Open access
Do it like a tax haven: deny 24,000 children an education to send 2 to school
Etter-Phoya, R., 25 Mar 2025, Tax Justice Network.Research output: Other contribution
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Open access
Money can’t buy health, but taxes can improve healthcare
O'Hare, B., Loewenson, R., Etter-Phoya, R., Custódio David, G. & Eilish, H., 21 Jul 2025, Tax Justice Network.Research output: Other contribution
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Open access
Profit shifting from Nigeria to Europe: the impact on human rights
Etter-Phoya, R., Murray, S., Hall, S., Masiya, M. & O’Hare, B., 19 Mar 2025, In: PLOS Global Public Health. 5, 3, 28 p., e0004218.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Tax justice: a pathway to better health
Etter-Phoya, R., O'Hare, B.A.-M., Loewenson , R., Custódio David, G. & Hannah, E. A., 2 Apr 2025, Mobilizing for health justice: Global Health Watch 7. Labonté, R., Bodini, C., Loewenson, R., McCoy, D., Blandina, D., Nambiar, D., Falcão, M., Paremoer, L., Milsom, P., Ram, R. & Serag, H. (eds.). 7 ed. Wakefield, Quebec, Canada: Daraja Press, p. 1-14 14 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Tax policies for development
Cobham, A., Etter-Phoya, R., Harari, M., Lorenzo, F. & Mager, F., 21 May 2025, The Palgrave handbook of development finance. Kararach, G., Moreira, E. P. & Murinde, V. (eds.). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, p. 103-121 19 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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The Tax Justice Network’s June 2025 update to the Financial Secrecy Index: countries’ global commitment to administrative assistance in tax matters (and the lack thereof
Michel, B., Knobel, A., Lorenzo, F., Ateş, L., Harari, M., Etter-Phoya, R. & Villanueva, G., 23 Jun 2025, Tax Analysts.Research output: Other contribution
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Unleashing the superpower of tax with public country-by-country reporting
Etter-Phoya, R., 11 Feb 2025, In-depth analysis of reporting trends using the GRI Tax Standard: a deep dive into the adoption of GRI 207: Tax 2019 among a subset of the largest public companies worldwide. Amsterdam: Stichting Global Reporting Initiative, p. 31-32 2 p.Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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A letter to the OECD Board of Directors Regarding Failure to respond to UN Special Procedures’ urgent communication regarding the potential adverse human rights implications of the OECD’s Two Pillar Solution
O'Hare, B.A.-M., Etter-Phoya, R. & Stephen, H., 24 Apr 2024Research output: Other contribution
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Open access
An assessment of the impact of gaps in global governance on children’s rights in Malawi in the context of the climate emergency - submission to CESCR 76th Session
O'Hare, B.A.-M., Etter-Phoya, R., Hannah, E. A. & Hall, S., 10 Aug 2024, 12 p.Research output: Other contribution
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Open access
Impact of higher-income countries on child health in lower-income countries from a climate change perspective: a case study of the UK and Malawi
Hannah, E. A., Etter-Phoya, R., Lopez, M., Hall, S. & O'Hare, B.A.-M., 4 Jan 2024, In: PLOS Global Public Health. 4, 1, 28 p., e0002721.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review