The Effects of Foreign Debt and Other Related International Financial Obligations of States on the Full Enjoyment of All Human Rights, Particularly Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

A/HRC/RES/31/11View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3 Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2016.

What other versions does this mandate have?

9 versions · 2009–2019

This is an older version — the most recent is A/HRC/RES/40/8

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2019	A/HRC/RES/40/8	The effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights	1,515	63%Compare
2018	A/HRC/RES/37/11	The effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of states on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights	1,939	48%Compare
2016	A/HRC/RES/31/11	The effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights	2,316	72%Compare
2015	A/HRC/RES/28/8	The effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights	2,538	80%Compare
2013	A/HRC/RES/23/11	The effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights	2,267	92%Compare

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Debt Relief Debt Restructuring Developing Countries Economic Reform Economic, Social and Cultural Rights External Debt Human Rights International Cooperation

What’s in this document?

32 operative paragraphs

Takes note with appreciation of the reports of the Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights,² and welcomes the work and contributions of the Independent Expert;

²A/HRC/31/60 and A/HRC/31/61.

Recalls that every State has the primary responsibility to promote the economic, social and cultural development of its people and, to that end, has the right and responsibility to choose its means and goals of development and should not be subject to external specific prescriptions for economic policy;

Recognizes that structural adjustment reform programmes and policy conditionalities limit public expenditure, impose fixed expenditure ceilings and give inadequate attention to the provision of social services, and that only a few countries manage to achieve sustainable higher growth under these programmes;

Reaffirms the fact that responses to the global financial and economic crises should not result in a decrease in debt relief, nor should they be used as an excuse to stop debt relief measures, as that would have negative implications for the enjoyment of human rights in affected countries;

Urges States, international organizations and financial institutions to implement urgently financial market reforms in order to combat and prevent financial instability, excessive debt and financial crises;

Expresses its concern that the level to which the overall debt stock under the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative is still low, that the Initiative is not intended to offer a comprehensive solution to the long-term debt burden and that some of the countries that have received debt relief are again at high risk of debt distress;

Reiterates its conviction that, for heavily indebted poor countries to achieve debt sustainability, long-term growth and poverty reduction goals, the debt relief under the above-mentioned initiative will not be sufficient and that additional resource transfers, in the form of grants and concessional loans and the removal of trade barriers and better prices for their exports, would be required to ensure sustainability and permanent exit from debt overhang;

Regrets the absence of mechanisms to find appropriate solutions to the unsustainable foreign debt burden of low- and middle-income heavily indebted countries, and that, to date, little headway has been made in redressing the unfairness of the current system of debt resolution, which continues to place the interests of the lenders above those of indebted countries and the poor in those countries, and therefore calls for an intensification of efforts to devise effective and equitable mechanisms to cancel or reduce substantially the foreign debt burden of all developing countries, in particular those severely affected by the devastation of natural disasters, such as tsunamis and hurricanes, and by armed conflicts;

Acknowledges that, in least developed countries and in several low- and middle-income countries, unsustainable levels of external debt continue to create a considerable barrier to economic and social development;

Recognizes that debt relief can play a key role in liberating resources that should be directed towards activities consistent with attaining sustainable growth and development, including poverty reduction and the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development,³ and therefore that debt relief measures, where appropriate, should be pursued vigorously and expeditiously, ensuring that they do not replace alternative sources of financing and that they are accompanied by an increase in official development assistance;

³General Assembly resolution 70/1.

Calls for consistent public spending policies that ensure full compliance with the human rights obligations of States and for those policies to take into account the fact that the human rights of the poorest and most vulnerable must be respected, protected and fulfilled;

Recalls once again the call on industrialized countries to implement the enhanced programme of debt relief without further delay and to agree to cancel all the official bilateral debt of those countries in return for their making demonstrable commitments to poverty reduction;

Urges the international community, including the United Nations system, the Bretton Woods institutions and the private sector, to take appropriate measures and actions for the implementation of the pledges, commitments, agreements and decisions of major United Nations conferences and summits, including the Millennium Summit, the World Conference on Human Rights, the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, the World Conference on Sustainable Development and the International Conference on Financing for Development, in particular those relating to the question of the external debt problem of developing countries, in particular of heavily indebted poor countries, least developed countries and countries with economies in transition;

Recalls the pledge contained in the Political Declaration annexed to General Assembly resolution S-24/2, adopted on 1 July 2000 by the Assembly, to find effective, equitable, development-oriented and durable solutions to the external debt and debt-servicing burdens of developing countries;

Stresses the need for the economic reform programmes arising from foreign debt to be country-driven and for any negotiations and conclusion of debt relief and new loan agreements to be formulated with public knowledge and transparency, with legislative frameworks, institutional arrangements and mechanisms for consultation being established to ensure the effective participation of all components of society, including people’s legislative bodies and human rights institutions, and particularly of the most vulnerable or disadvantaged, in the design, application and evaluation of strategies, policies and programmes, as well as in the follow-up to and systematic national supervision of their implementation, and for macroeconomic and financial policy issues to be integrated, on an equal footing and in a consistent way, in the realization of broader social development goals, taking into account the national context and the priorities and needs of the debtor countries to allocate resources in a way that ensures balanced development conducive to the overall realization of human rights;

Also stresses that the economic reform programmes arising from foreign debt should maximize the policy space of developing countries in pursuing their national development efforts, taking into account the views of relevant stakeholders in a way that ensures balanced development conducive to the overall realization of all human rights;

Further stresses that the economic programmes arising from foreign debt relief and cancellation must not reproduce past structural adjustment policies that have not worked, such as dogmatic demands for privatization and reduced public services;

Calls upon States, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to continue to cooperate closely to ensure that additional resources made available through the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative, the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and other new initiatives are absorbed in the recipient countries without affecting ongoing programmes;

Calls upon creditors, particularly international financial institutions, and debtors alike to consider the preparation of human rights impact assessments with regard to development projects, loan agreements or poverty reduction strategy papers;

Reaffirms the fact that the exercise of the basic rights of the people of debtor countries to food, housing, clothing, employment, education, health services and a healthy environment cannot be subordinated to the implementation of structural adjustment policies, growth programmes and economic reforms arising from the debt;

Urges States, international financial institutions and the private sector to take urgent measures to alleviate the debt problem of those developing countries particularly affected by HIV/AIDS so that more financial resources may be released and used for health care, research and treatment of the population in the affected countries;

Reiterates its view that, in order to find a durable solution to the debt problem and for the consideration of any new debt resolution mechanism, there is a need for a broad political dialogue between creditor and debtor countries and the multilateral financial institutions, within the United Nations system, based on the principle of shared interests and responsibilities;

Encourages States to explore further avenues for reforming parts of their legal systems with a view to developing a more equitable taxation system;

Also encourages States to continue to consider improved approaches to restructuring sovereign debt, taking into account the Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes and the work carried out by international financial institutions, in accordance with their respective mandates;

Reiterates its request to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to pay more attention to the problem of the debt burden of developing countries, in particular of least developed countries, and especially the social impact of the measures arising from foreign debt;

Requests the Independent Expert to continue to explore the interlinkages with trade and other issues, including HIV/AIDS, when examining the impact of structural adjustment and foreign debt, and also to contribute, as appropriate, to the process entrusted with the follow-up to the International Conference on Financing for Development with a view to bringing to its attention the issue of the effects of structural adjustment and foreign debt on the enjoyment of human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights;

Encourages the Independent Expert to continue to cooperate, in accordance with his mandate, with the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, special rapporteurs, independent experts and members of the expert working groups of the Human Rights Council and its Advisory Committee on issues relating to economic, social and cultural rights and the right to development in his work;

Requests the Independent Expert to report to the General Assembly on the issue of the effects of foreign debt and other related international financial obligations of States on the full enjoyment of all human rights, particularly economic, social and cultural rights;

Requests the Secretary-General to provide the Independent Expert with all necessary assistance, in particular all the staff and resources required to carry out his functions;

Urges Governments, international organizations, international financial institutions, non-governmental organizations and the private sector to cooperate fully with the Independent Expert in the discharge of the mandate;

Requests the Independent Expert to submit a report on the implementation of the present resolution to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-fourth session;

Decides to continue its consideration of this matter at its thirty-fourth session under the same agenda item.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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