A/HRC/11/10 page 20 G. International financial institutions 70. The question of whether international financial institutions (notably, the World Bank and the IMF) may legitimately concern themselves with human rights, or are under an obligation to do so, remains unresolved. Nevertheless, it can be contended that the international legal status of these institutions in general and as specialized agencies of the United Nations in particular provides a basis for holding them accountable in terms of human rights law.39 The mutually reinforcing relationship between human rights and development provides a further basis for asserting that these institutions must take human rights into account in their operations.40 71. The Relationship Agreements between the United Nations, on the one hand, and the World Bank and the IMF, on the other hand, provide that these institutions should “consider” the decisions and recommendations of the United Nations.41 However, the two institutions have narrowly interpreted these agreements as precluding the United Nations from requiring specific action on their part and as conferring upon them completely independent decision-making power. 72. Nevertheless, as specialized agencies of the United Nations, both the World Bank and the IMF have, in common with all other United Nations agencies, certain obligations arising under the Charter of the United Nations, including the implementation of the two international Covenants. This position is consistent with the interpretation accorded to article 22 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. 73. Several provisions in part IV of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights explicitly describe the role of the specialized agencies in the implementation of the Covenant. For example, article 19 allows for reports to be transmitted to the Commission on Human Rights,31 and the specialized agencies may, in terms of article 20, 39 See C. Lumina, “An assessment of the human rights obligations of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund with particular reference to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel” (2006), in Journal for Juridical Science, vol. 31, issue 2, p. 108; S. Skogly, “The Position of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund in the Human Rights Field”, R. Hanski and M. Suksi, editors, in An Introduction to the International Protection of Human Rights: A Textbook, 2nd rev. ed., pp. 231-250 (Turku/Abo: Abo Akademi Institute for Human Rights, 2002). 40 M. E. Salomon, International economic governance and human rights accountability, (LSE Law, Society and Economy Working Papers 9/2007, 5). 41 See the agreement between the United Nations and the World Bank, United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 16, p. 346 and the agreement between the United Nations and the IMF, United Nations Treaty Series, vol. 16, p. 328.