A/HRC/37/54 for economic policymakers. The strengthening of national statistics for monitoring progress towards the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals may facilitate efforts to monitor progress in some fields of human rights realization, but may need to be accompanied by additional indicators covering particular rights. 76. While the guiding principles will focus on important policies and processes that governments put in place in the immediate aftermath of a crisis, it is equally important to consider the measures that governments take in the medium and longer term to build transformative resilience, even during healthy economic times. Experience has shown the importance of transformative policy responses through the strengthening of institutions and policies to enable governments and people — in particular the poor and vulnerable — to weather shocks and to recover swiftly following a crisis. 77. The Independent Expert intends to circulate the draft guiding principles for assessing the human rights impact of economic reform policies to States, international financial institutions, national human rights institutions, civil society organizations and other relevant stakeholders by August 2018 with a view to obtaining written feedback in the form of comments from all stakeholders. The draft guiding principles will also be published on his official web page. He also plans to convene during 2018 a second expert meeting, circulate the revised draft based on feedback received, and hold a public consultation with States and other stakeholders. The Independent Expert would like to submit the final text of the guiding principles to the Human Rights Council for its consideration at its fortieth session. B. Recommendations 78. In order to advance the discussion on the development of the guiding principles for assessing the human rights impact of economic reform policies, the Independent Expert recommends that the guiding principles should: (a) Recognize that managing economic and fiscal affairs is a core government function, while underlining the obligations of States and international financial institutions to ensure that their economic reform policies and conditionalities on financial support respect human rights; (b) Draw on existing human rights standards relating to economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights at the international and regional levels, including core international human rights treaties, their authoritative interpretation in general comments, statements, decisions, guiding principles, concluding observations and recommendations issued by international human rights mechanisms; (c) Set out the normative framework that has emerged from the extensive work carried out to date in relation to human rights and the financial crisis, and provide specific guidance on how to apply the framework. That should include specific guidance on assessing economic reform policies with a view to: (i) identifying positive human rights impacts; (ii) preventing or mitigating adverse impacts on the enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights; (iii) identifying and preventing potential violations of the core minimum obligations relating to economic, social and cultural rights; (iv) screening economic reform measures against discriminatory impacts in law and in practice that are incompatible with international human rights law; (v) identifying impermissible retrogression of economic, social and cultural rights; and (vi) clarifying the circumstances in which certain retrogressive measures may be justifiable, based on the principles of necessity, proportionality, legitimacy and reasonableness; (d) Be applicable to different circumstances in the context of acute financial crises, in less challenging economic times, in developing countries and in highly advanced economies; (e) Ensure prompt consideration of various policy alternatives, beyond austerity measures, in response to fiscal constraints; 19

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