A/HRC/11/10 page 15 current external debt relationships to be consistent with human rights principles would need to be further elaborated by the international community through a broad and open consultative process. 47. Effective and meaningful participation in policy and resource utilization decision-making of the most vulnerable communities in the heavily indebted countries is a crucial aspect of a human rights-based approach to the foreign debt problem. It should be noted that the principle of participation is also a fundamental right to which all persons are entitled. In regard to the impact of foreign debt on the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights, participation requires respect for and protection and fulfilment of a range of human rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, and the right to vote and to be elected, as well as the establishment of conditions designed to guarantee the full and informed participation of people in affected countries in the making of decisions concerning external debt and use of savings from debt relief measures. 48. In the context of the debt crisis, accountability entails that creditors should recognize debtor governments’ accountability to their own citizens, and not impose unduly onerous conditions on debt relief or loans. It also means that the governments of debtor countries should be responsive to the demands of their citizens that funds from debt cancellation should be utilized for the improvement of basic public services, including education and health care, and that these governments should be open and accountable to their people on the use of these funds, as well as in the contracting of new loans. 49. Thus, while the independent expert accepts that international financial institutions have an important role to play in addressing the debt crisis, he believes that a human rights-based approach to the problem offers specific value, which places emphasis on participation, non-discrimination, accountability, transparency, and the universality, interdependence and indivisibility of all human rights. Such an approach would also be in conformity with the interpretation of the duty of international assistance and cooperation proffered by, inter alia, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Rights of the Child. E. Relevant international standards 50. The imperative to address the effects of foreign debt on human rights arises from the principle of international assistance and cooperation, which is implicit or explicitly provided for in the Charter of the United Nations and numerous other binding international instruments. 51. The Charter of the United Nations identifies the overall purposes of international economic and social cooperation. Article 1 (3) of the Charter states that the purposes of the United Nations include the achievement of “international cooperation in solving international problems of an economic, social, cultural or humanitarian character, and in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and for fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion”. In article 56 of the Charter, Members States have pledged themselves “to take joint and separate action in cooperation with the Organization” to achieve these purposes. 52. Article 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides that “[e]veryone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this