A/HRC/39/18 49. The duty to cooperate for development in a manner that addresses inequality among countries is reinforced by international human rights treaties, which are to be interpreted in a “development-informed and interdependence-based reading”.32 50. The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights monitors the implementation of all the rights protected by the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights, contributing simultaneously to the full realization of the relevant elements of the right to development. In doing so, the Committee addresses, in its examination of the reports of States parties and in its dialogue with them, the eradication of poverty and underdevelopment and the creation of conditions for achieving economic and social progress and development for all, including for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals and groups (see E/C.12/2011/2, para. 7). 51. Under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, States parties undertook to take steps, individually and through international assistance and cooperation, especially economic and technical, with a view to achieving progressively full realization of the rights therein enshrined (art. 2 (1)). As the Committee has observed, the phrase “maximum of its available resources” refers to both the resources existing within a State and those available from the international community. 33 The Covenant also underlines the importance of international cooperation for the realization of the right to an adequate standard of living (art. 11 (1)), the realization of the right to food (art. 11 (2)) 34 and in the scientific and cultural fields (art. 15 (4)). 52. The Covenant describes specific modalities for international cooperation and assistance to be carried out by States and by the United Nations (arts. 22–23). The Committee has affirmed that “international cooperation for development … is an obligation of all States”, and it “is particularly incumbent upon those States which are in a position to assist others in this regard”. 35 The Committee also expressed the view that virtually all United Nations organs and agencies involved in any aspect of international development cooperation should take into account recommendations made by the Committee in deciding, each within its field of competence, on the advisability of international measures likely to contribute to the effective progressive implementation of the Covenant. 36 53. The Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights has acknowledged that international cooperation may need to include major debt relief initiatives for developing countries.37 In a 2016 statement, the Committee concluded that “all States should ensure that they do not impose obligations on borrowing States that would lead them to adopt retrogressive measures in violation of their obligations under the Covenant” (E/C.12/2016/1, para. 10). Cooperation for addressing sovereign debt was also reflected in a target to Sustainable Development Goal 17 (target 17.4) and in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development (paras. 93– 102). To be successful, such cooperation should effectively take measures to counter the actions of the “non-cooperative minority bondholders” that disrupt the will of the large majority of bondholders who accept a restructuring of a debt-crisis country’s obligations (ibid., para. 100), the so-called “vulture funds”. 38 Sovereign debt restructuring should follow the Basic Principles on Sovereign Debt Restructuring Processes. In addition, as mentioned by the Independent Expert on foreign debt, not only will “curbing illicit financial flows … be essential for realizing human rights and achieving sustainable 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 Joint statement of Chairs of the human rights treaty bodies on the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Declaration on the Right to Development, available at www2.ohchr.org/SPdocs/Issues/Development/JointStatChairUNTB_25AnniversaryRtD.doc. General comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, para. 13. See also general comment No. 12 (1999) on the right to adequate food, paras. 36–41. General comment No. 3 (1990) on the nature of States parties’ obligations, para. 14. General comment No. 2 (1990) on international technical assistance measures, para. 2. Ibid., para. 9. See Human Rights Council resolution 27/30. See also, e.g., A/HRC/20/23, A/HRC/33/54, A/HRC/14/21 and A/72/153, and “The international dimensions of the right to development: a fresh start towards improving accountability”, paras. 65–72. 11