A/HRC/20/23 equipped to deal with the questions of foreign debt) have thus far failed to deliver an equitable and lasting solution to the sovereign debt problem in line with the various commitments made by the international community. In addition, these other forums do not have explicit mandates to promote and protect human rights and have not factored human rights into their policies and programmes in line with the internationally accepted human rights-based approach to development. Second, the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action calls for a holistic approach to the promotion and protection of human rights which essentially entails consideration of the causes and context of human rights violations. 15 Third, in terms of article 22 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) “may bring to the attention of other organs of the United Nations, their subsidiary organs and specialized agencies concerned with furnishing technical assistance any matters arising out of the reports (submitted by the States Parties to the Covenant) which may assist such bodies in deciding, each within its field of competence, on the advisability of international measures likely to contribute to the effective progressive realization of the present Covenant.” According to the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights this provision includes “virtually all United Nations organs and agencies involved in any aspect of international development cooperation.” 16 It is therefore within the competence of the Human Rights Council to address the issue of foreign debt and human rights. Fourth, States’ human rights obligations are clearly relevant in the context of their external debt arrangements. Thus, for example, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has often urged borrower States to take into account their obligations under the Covenant in all aspects of their negotiations with international financial institutions in order to ensure that economic, social and cultural rights, particularly of the most vulnerable sectors of society, are not undermined. It has also encouraged creditor countries to do all they can to ensure that the policies and decisions of the international financial institutions of which they are part are in conformity with the obligations of the States parties to the Covenant, especially the obligations of international assistance and cooperation.17 Fifth, the declarations, resolutions and decisions of major United Nations conferences and bodies as well as the concluding observations of the various treaty bodies have confirmed the link between debt, human rights and development.18 Finally, under international human rights law, States bear primary 15 16 17 18 Paragraph 13 calls upon States to “eliminate all violations of human rights and their causes, as well as obstacles to the enjoyment of these rights” (emphasis added). General comment No. 2. See E/C.12/1/Add.54, para. 31 (Belgium); E/C.12/1/Add.43, para. 20 (Italy); E/C.12/1/Add.68, para. 31 (Germany); E/C.12/1/Add.70, para. 24 (Sweden); E/C.12/1/Add.72, para. 32 (France); E/C.12/1/Add.77, para. 37 (Ireland); and E/C.12/1/Add.79, para. 26 (United Kingdom). It is also notable that the Maastricht Guidelines on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights deem a human rights violation of omission “[t]he failure of a State to take into account its international legal obligations in the field of economic, social and cultural rights when entering into bilateral or multilateral agreements with other States, international organizations or multinational corporations” (para. 15(j)). See, e.g., the Universal Declaration on the Eradication of Hunger and Malnutrition, adopted on 16 November 1974 by the World Food Conference, in accordance with General Assembly Resolution 3347 (XXIX), 17 December 1974; the Programme for the Further Implementation of Agenda 21, adopted by the General Assembly at the Earth Summit +5 during its nineteenth session, 23-28 June 1997, paras. 20 and 82; Copenhagen Declaration on Social Development, adopted at the World Summit for Social Development, Copenhagen, 6-12 March 1995 (commitments 1.k and 7.c); the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, adopted by the World Conference on Human Rights, Vienna, 14-25 June 1993, para. 12; the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women, Beijing, 4-15 September 1995, para. 13; the Millennium Declaration, paras. 15 and 28; Report of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, A/CONF.199/20 and Corr.1, Johannesburg, 26 August to 4 September 2002, annex, para. 89. See also 5