A/HRC/17/37 15. The consultations addressed the following issues: (a) the key human rights and international legal principles that should underpin the guidelines; (b) the impact of economic reform policies and debt relief operations on the capacity of States to design and implement national development policies and programmes and to fulfil their human rights obligations; (c) the elements or principles that sovereign loan agreements should contain to ensure that these agreements do not contribute to the violation of human rights or constrain the fulfilment of human rights by borrower States; (d) elements of a new, enhanced debt sustainability framework (based on the principle of shared responsibility of creditors and debtors for preventing and resolving unsustainable debt situations as underscored in the Monterrey Consensus of the International Conference on Financing for Development) which includes an assessment of the impact of debt burdens on the realization of human rights and the achievement of national development objectives; (e) the need for human rights impact assessments before and after loan contraction; (f) measures to safeguard gains from debt relief; (g) mechanisms for public audits of debt and lending portfolios; (h) the impact of trade liberalization on the capacity of States to fulfil their human rights obligations and how to ensure the coherence of national and international financial and trade policies; (i) how to promote transparency and accountability in loan contraction and use of loan funds as well as effective public debt management; and (j) the role of parliaments and civil society in holding Governments to account for debt and economic reform policies that may contribute to human rights violations. C. Format 16. Each regional consultation took place over a period of two days and was divided into a number of thematic sessions.3 The first day set the context by focusing broadly on key human rights principles relating to foreign debt, policies on debt and debt relief, economic reforms, and the impact of these policies on the capacity of States to fulfil their human rights obligations, as well as the roles and responsibilities of creditors and debtors. Discussions during the second day focused on the form and content of the guidelines drawing on the discussions from the first day. 17. In order to contextualize the discussions, two to three expert panellists made brief presentations during each session. The presentations were followed by open discussion and summing up by the session chair. III. Latin America and Caribbean regional consultation A. Introduction 18. The Latin America and Caribbean regional consultation was held in Santiago on 18 June 2010. It was organized by OHCHR and co-sponsored by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Independent Expert is grateful for this support and for the contributions made by all participants. 19. The consultation was originally scheduled to be held over two days but was held over one day. Although invitations had been sent by OHCHR to all States in the region through their permanent missions in Geneva and New York, it appeared that these may not have been transmitted to the respective capitals. Consequently, the first day of consultations 3 6 The exception was the Latin America and Caribbean consultation, which took place over one day. See section III of the present report.